Halo: The civil war
by NRV
Summary: A different Halo story. On a planet called Orta, Dr. Halsey and a scientist named Ronald Galena create another Spartan project...But then a civil war breaks out on planet Orta. Between marines....and between the Spartans of that project....
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

I played the HALO series (created by Bungie); I thought it was the best sci-fi game I could ever play. I also read Eric Nylund's novel "Halo: The fall of reach". It was a very good book. I was eventually inspired to create a fan-fiction.....

I introduce to you…..Halo: The civil war.

For those who have not read "Halo the fall of Reach", I suggest you read it if you want to understand this story.

I do NOT own anything from Bungie what's so ever, or any of the characters from the X-box Halo games and Halo: The fall of Reach mentioned in this story. "Halo: The civil war" is just a fan-fiction made by me.

This story is dedicated to: The Sponsor of the science fiction and fantasy club at my high school and all my friends there, all Halo fans, and my cousin (who introduced me to HALO).

I know it's been a bad run for the older version of Halo: The civil war. But I made it up, for those who are giving this story a second chance I would like to thank you very much….and that this "modified" story will show my thanks.

****

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

*****

Taking place during "Halo: The fall of Reach". Were the long war between the UNSC and the alien force, the Covenant, continued on…A planet in the galaxy, a planet called Orta, was in this war as well. Orta had its own UNSC military organization that ruled the planet. It wasn't far from planet Reach, were the Spartan 2 project began…..Planet Orta played a major role in weapon production in the war against the Covenant….once.

On December, 3, 2517, on planet Orta, there was a secret project lead by an expert scientist named Ronald Galena along with the assistance of Dr. Halsey herself…..It was another Spartan 2 project. At first, the project went well for a while. But on July, 18, 2552….another war for planet Orta's UNSC would begin….It was NOT against the Covenant though….

One side of the Spartans in that Spartan 2 project turned AGAINST Orta's UNSC and allied with a mysterious rebel military organization. The OTHER Spartans of the Spartan project continued to fight alongside the UNSC. Orta's UNSC found out that the rebel organization with the opposing Spartans had former marines in their military as well…..for whatever reason, some marines betrayed Orta's UNSC as well, they were called "UNSC rebels"…..A civil war has begun….between marines….and between the Spartans of that project. The Spartans of planet Reach continued to fight the Covenant….The Spartans of planet Orta….were at war against each other…..

*****

**Planet Orta, Central continent, Hon valley (north side)**

**July, 21, 2552**

**3:38 pm**

A squad of UNSC marines ran towards and up a wide hill, they all quickly looked back as they then ran down the other side of the hill at quick pace. The squad was running away from something…..At the bottom of the hill slope, the marine squad knelt down and quickly looked around, nothing was in sight. The squad leader of the group turned on his COM link and said to another person very far away.

*"Genesis command, this is marine strike team three. Our attack against the UNSC rebels in the town failed, we lost the other squads with us. The rebels brought in heavy weaponry. We had to go to our fallback position."*

*"Hold your position. THEY will arrive over there….We also have reinforcements on their way as well."* A communicator in Genesis command replied calmly. The squad sergeant took a deep breath in relief. Him and his squad faced hell a few minutes ago….They barely survived a firefight and were forced to fall back.

"Sir" One of the sergeants squad comrades said in exhaustion "Who's they? Who's arriving over here?"

"I already told you and the others earlier Richard….We have a Red army Spartan squad with us that's fighting rebels at the west side of this place." The squad leader answered to his comrade with slight impatience. "We have to just wait for them and the reinforcements, which ever arrives first; we need to plan a new form of attack with them."

All the marines in the squad were suddenly silent. They waited for their reinforcements to arrive, hoping the tide of the battle in the evacuated area would soon be turned. Little did they know; the enemy, the UNSC rebels were on their way….

****

Inside a Pelican ship in the air, a squad of Spartans sat inside. They were checking their weapons and equipment. The inside of the Pelican was dark; it was hit earlier in the battle in Hon valley today, the hit disabled most of the lights. The Spartans in the ship were hardly noticeable. One of the shadowy Spartans turned on their COM link and said calmly.

*"Commander Randy, this is Red army Spartan squad seven, we cleared the west part of the area and inbound to the fall back position."*

*"Okay, good work. But prepare for enemy contact at the LZ, strike team three and the reinforcements are under attack by UNSC rebel troops down there."* The commander replied informally.

At quick pace, the Pelican landed and the back door opened. Gunfire was going off far ahead of the landing zone. The Spartans knew what to do. They emerged out of the darkness inside the airship and laid foot into the light on the grass ground…..Five RED MJOLNIR armored Spartans walked away from the landed Pelican. Two of the Spartans were armed with MA5B assault rifles, one of them had a BR55 rifle (battle rifle), another one of them had a M19 SSM rocket launcher, and the last Spartan in the group had a S2 AM sniper rifle…There Pelican then took off into the clear blue sky.

The red Spartan with the battle rifle looked distantly ahead. There were many marines in a firefight with the enemy; they used the large hills for cover. The field of battle had many grass green hills for cover, and a few wide trees. There were tall grass areas at their right, and a forest at the left. One of the Spartans armed with an assault rifle, named Jonnie, asked the BR55 rifle equipped Spartan while watching the firefight.

"Squad leader, what will be our battle formation for this one?"

The red Spartan with the battle rifle, the leader of squad seven looked back at Jonnie, he replied clearly. "You and Victoria will join the marines at that hill ahead of us, go."

The two Spartans with the MA5B's ran forward to aid the marines. All the other Spartans with their squad leader started moving quickly towards the hill ahead as well. The red Spartan squad leaders name was Aaron….He faced the rocket launcher armed Spartan and said to him while moving forward. "Marcus, you take position at the left hill. Prepare your M19 SSM for any possible enemy armor."

The Spartan with the rocket launcher quickly replied "yes sir, will do" and headed to a hill at the left were a few groups of marines were shooting at the enemy. Aaron then looked at the red Spartan sniper who was ready for orders.

"Nico…go to the tall grass at the right and take them by surprise…."

The Spartan sniper, Nico, nodded and said with his quiet and deep voice. "Yes sir…."

Nico hid in the tall grass and slowly crawled his way to get sight on the enemy. Aaron joined Victoria and Jonnie. The intense firefight begun for them, they opened fire.

~DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH!!!~

The UNSC rebels fired back.

~TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA!!!~

Aaron caught a firing rebel in the scope sight of his battle rifle. He fired at the enemy twice.

~BAAM-BAAM!!!~

The rebel was hit in his upper body; he dropped his assault rifle and then fell to the ground, rolling down the hill he used for cover….This was Aaron and his squad's first battle against the UNSC rebels. The squad leader just realized that, and now knows what the rebels truly looked like…..

The UNSC rebel soldiers were dressed in dark blue shirts, dark gray cargo pants, and combat boots. Also equipped with backpacks and ammo belts, some of them had ski mask on, hiding their identity.

****

The red Spartan sniper, Nico crawled to the top of a tall grass hill. He watched the firefighting going on from the sides; he could watch both the marines and rebels shooting at each other. The Spartan slowly settled down his S2 AM sniper rifle and calmed himself….

****

~BAAM-BAAM-BAAM-BAAM!!!~

~DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH!!!~

~TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA!!~

A UNSC marine was shot in the head. He fell to the ground. "Man down over here!!" Another marine yelled out.

~BAAM-BAAM!!~

~TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA!!~

So much commotion was going on. Bullets zipped from left to right.

"Frag out!!" A marine warned as he threw the grenade at a distant hill were enemy rebels were in.

~TKA-TKA-TKA-TKA!!~

~BOOM!!!~

Two rebel bodies went flying in the air and slammed to the ground. Suddenly a UNSC marine was shot in his left shoulder next to Aaron. The wounded marine rolled down the hill slope to the ground, safe from gunfire, and yelled out "medic!!!" Aaron knew the person for the job, his trustworthy squad medic….

"Victoria! Aid that down marine!"

"Aright, I'll take care of it!" Victoria said to Aaron at a fast pace as she rushed to the down marine. She took out her medic kit and begun aiding him. Aaron then noticed two enemy rebel machine gun equipped warthogs at a dirt road to his left, heading towards them. He quickly informed Marcus on COM link.

*"Marcus, you know what to do, destroy those enemy warthogs."* Aaron then got behind cover as a few rounds from the machine gun warthogs went by.

~DU-DU-DU-DU-DU-DU-DU-DU-DU!!~

Marcus, still at the left side of the battlefield, locked the sights of his rocket launcher onto the first warthog and fired.

~PUUH!!!.....~BOOM!!!~

The rebel warthog was blown away. Thanks to the UNSC marines cover fire; he was able to get a good shot. A second opportunity for Marcus to fire again came up, he quickly fired his second missile at the remaining hog….it was no longer a threat. A marine then yelled out to everyone. "We got enemy reinforcements heading our way!!!" Right after that was said, gunfire from the rebels grew more intense. Aaron then said on COM link to Nico.

*"Nico, take out there reinforcements, at those hills."*

Instantly…four shots from Nico's sniper rifle were fired. And four UNSC rebel soldiers were on the ground….Aaron noticed one rebel get shot in the head by Nico and flipped to the ground, just before he was forced back to cover. The enemy fire was now decreasing slowly.

****

After emptying a magazine in the S2 AM, Nico reloaded. His sniper spree was cut off from another sniper bullet fired from someone else...The round pierced the ground, about an inch away from Nico….It was an enemy sniper.

The red Spartan quickly got up and ran from the tall grass, and to a lone mid-sized hill. As Nico ran to that cover, he was shot in the left side of his body by the enemy sniper. The hit disabled his shield system, but he still made it to cover. Nico waited for his shield to regenerate…..few seconds later, the shield system recovered. His top objective at this time was eliminating the rebel sniper. He was determined to make damn well sure that enemy didn't get in the way of his mission….

Nico peeked out the right side of the hill, and was quickly forced back to cover as a armor piercing 14.5mm round hit the side if the hill, three small chunks of surface was blown off and thrown in the air. The red Spartan already noticed were the enemy was before he was suppressed, thanks to his quick reflexes.

"_That was the third shot…." _Nico said in his mind, strategizing against the four shot S2 AM sniper rifle. He wanted to put an end to this quickly. Aiding his comrades was his main intention.

After Nico anticipated the enemy snipers location and were to fire, he quickly exposed himself out of cover, spotted the enemy, and fired. The shot hit the rebel sniper in the throat….the target was eliminated.

The red Spartan sniper got back in cover for a moment. Then he heard Aaron warn everyone on COM link. *"Comrades, we got five enemy warthogs coming towards us."*

Nico peeked out of cover and noticed two troop transport warthogs, and the other three armed with machine guns. The enemy hogs fired aggressively as they went to aid their rebel comrades distantly away from the Spartan sniper. Nico got back to cover to avoid enemy fire.

*"It looks like the rebels are retreating!"* A UNSC marine said informally.

*"Yeah…"* Aaron replied. *"Marines, stay in cover. Jonnie, Victoria, Marcus, and Nico, keep them suppressed. We don't want those warthogs to close in on us."*

*"Right, will do."* Jonnie said positively.

Then Nico did as he was told and strapped his sniper rifle on his back and took out his M6D pistol. Due to the aggressive fire from the rebel warthogs, the red Spartans couldn't do much; just let them retreat….Two rebels were shot down as they all quickly boarded the troop transport vehicles. All the enemy warthogs drove away quickly, firing as they went. Moments later, the hostiles were gone…..

The Red army Spartan squad and the UNSC marines regrouped. Victoria and Nico examined the tragic aftermath of the battle. A few marine and rebel bodies were settled on the hill slopes….more lives put to an end…..

The Spartan squad leader, Aaron took a quick look around the area, he then said to all his company. "Ok troops; let's gather both the marine and rebel dog tags and ammunition." He then looked at his squad comrades: Victoria, Jonnie, Marcus, and Nico. Then he said to them. "Commander Randy wanted to see us after this mission. Us and strike team three will be returning to Genesis base shortly…."

****

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, Genesis command **

**4:34pm**

Inside an important UNSC base, standing straight, arms folded behind him, and glancing out the large and wide window away from the Genesis command operatives, Commander Randy noticed a group of red armored Spartans, and UNSC marines approach him. It was Spartan squad seven and strike team three.

Commander Randy Ed Domeman has much experience in the UNSC military, and knowledge. His skin was pale, had green eyes, and red hair. He is somewhere in his early forties, and worn a commanders uniform. Also, he's the leader of Red army Spartan squad seven and all the other Red army Spartans. In other words, commander of the Red army…..

"Sir" Aaron said as he saluted "We came here to report about the battle sir."

"At ease…" Randy said calmly. He stared out the window momentarily, and then asked Aaron. "So, did you and your squad manage to find out at least something on why the BLUE ARMY Spartans and the UNSC rebels….or should I say, former marines, betrayed us?"

"No…we just recovered UNSC rebel dog tags. We spotted two Blue army Spartans when we battled rebels at the west side of Hon valley. I think they were just scouting, they ran off when we spotted them….."

"Hmm" Randy said in thought. "It's only a matter of time till the Red army Spartans and Blue army Spartans start fighting…..None of them fought each other…yet….It's just the UNSC rebels we been fighting so far…." He looked at Nico and said to him in a less serious tone. "Heh, with your luck, Nico Markmen….I thought you would find something…."

"Luck" Nico said in wonder. Randy looked at him differently for a moment and said to him.

"Well you survived many, many sniper battles, your rumored to be the best sniper in the Red army. And you did find the Blue army Spartans and UNSC rebels DECLARATION of this war….To me, you have a lot of luck at your side."

Nico remained silent…Randy then commented him. "…You're still the quiet one in your squad…."

The red Spartan wondered what the word meant….Luck….No answer came across Nico's mind. That word was unfamiliar to him….He didn't let the pointless question bother him….

Randy then said to the red armored Spartans in a more serious tone. "That was all I needed from all you, you may return to your post."

All the Spartans saluted respectfully and said "Yes sir". They then walked towards the self opening slide door. The red Spartan sniper looked back at Commander Randy and the marines for a moment, and then followed his squad….that Spartan named Nico Markmen…..

Randy faced the marine strike team that was in the battle for Hon valley. He looked away from them and asked. "What were the casualties in the battle?"

"I think…seven casualties, and two wounded. But the rebels faced more, I know that." The marine sergeant of strike team three said calmly. Randy looked down momentarily in a little sorrow towards the fallen…..

"That will be it" Randy said. "You know where to go…"

Then one of the marines in the squad said to the commander. "Commander Randy, sir?"

Randy looked at the marine. "Speak freely private." He said after noticing the private symbol on his shoulder, the marine was a rookie. The commander also noticed his name tag. His name was Richard.

"May I ask you a few strange questions?"

Randy nodded to Richard. The marine was silent momentarily; unsure if this would be good questions, or stupid questions….He continued.

"How exactly did the civil war start? Who are these Red army and Blue army Spartans anyway? Why did some of OWN marines and Spartans betray us? I don't fully understand all this...I was just curious, sir…." Richard then looked down for a few seconds, thinking he just said something stupid. The rest of his marine squad looked at him…But then there focus was broken when Randy calmly replied to the private ranked marine.

"Well, we don't know why some of the marines betrayed the United Nations Space Command. Or why the Blue army Spartans betrayed us.…" Randy then glanced out the large window, giving him a good view of the outside world. He then looked back at Richard and said. "You should know the war you're in….I'll give you an explanation….."


	2. Chapter 2: Origin of the civil war

**Chapter 2: Origin of the civil war**

**Planet Orta, Central continent, Genesis military complex, landing bay Sec-4**

**December, 3, 2517**

**4:20pm**

Now in the year 2517, in December, a UNSC Pelican ship landed on the landing bay at Genesis military complex. Dr. Halsey stepped out of the landed airship and observed the huge military base in front of her. The sky was blue with a few clouds; Orta's sun shined on this part of the planet. She found it quite impressive. From the few stories she heard about Genesis, It was not suppose to be even compared with Reach military complex, but it did look somewhat similar. Two high ranked UNSC marines escorted Dr. Halsey to her destination.

Located on planet Orta, which is not far from planet Reach, Genesis military complex is the home of top secret UNSC weaponry, and is Orta's main home military base. It had three large towers linked together and surrounded by wide concrete ground. Around Genesis complex, there were other smaller buildings, such as vehicle/airship repair stations, weapon factories, landing bays, etc.

Dr. Halsey had orders from FLEETCOM HQ from planet Reach to arrive to planet Orta for a meeting at the secret ops sector in Genesis. When she made her way there, she will then go in alone. Whatever they wanted her for, it was something big and top secret….

****

**Genesis military complex, secret ops sector**

**4:27pm**

The secret ops sector was located underground of Genesis military complex. There was a huge lobby that had sixteen wide doors that either lead to military training grounds, meeting/briefing rooms, or experiment areas for secret weapons. Dr. Halsey went to a door at the right side of the lobby. There was a small keypad next to the door. She typed down the password FLEETCOM gave to her, the door opened, and she made her way to the room.

There were three men and two women in silver UNSC scientist uniforms sitting in their chairs next to a round table. A pale skinned, green eyed, medium length light brown haired, twenty nine year old male scientist faced Dr. Halsey and asked. "You must be Dr. Halsey. Am I correct?"

"Yes, I am." Dr. Halsey simply answered. The scientist then introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm scientist Ronald Galena."

Ronald stood up and approached Dr. Halsey to shake hands in greeting, Dr. Halsey took a seat. Ronald remanded up on his feet, he then said. "Me and a lot of other people here in Genesis elite scientist community heard that you begun your Spartan project a couple of months ago."

Dr. Halsey was silent for a moment, she then said to him. "Um, yes, how did THIS complex know about that?"

Ronald then explained to her calmly. "It's ok. We know it's still secret. Only our community knows about your SPARTAN 2 project. FLEETCOM HQ at Reach told us about it." He then took a deep breath…and said to her.

"We would like to make a proposition."

"A proposition for what exactly?" Dr. Halsey asked curiously.

Ronald replied. "For ANOTHER Spartan project…" The scientist then took out a remote and pressed one of the buttons. Two mid-sized MJOLNIR armored Spartan holograms appeared on a platform at the center of the round table. One was wearing blue MJOLNIR armor; the other one was wearing red MJOLNIR armor. Dr. Halsey had no idea what to say. It took her a couple of seconds to say something.

"I don't mean to protest on your idea, but I don't think you should do this."

Ronald then said to her calmly. "It's not just me and my team. I was hoping YOU would help us out. FLEETCOM back at Reach said it's YOUR decision."

"I'm already leading MY Spartan project. I can't be in charge of two of them." Halsey said clear and informally. Deep down, Dr. Halsey regrets making the first group of children train as Spartans; she never wanted to do that again.

"I was planning to LEAD this project." Ronald said to her. "The reason why I wanted you here is because we want your suggestions on how we should deal with this project."

Dr. Halsey then asked the scientist. "What do you mean by dealing with this project?"

"You know, like how to train the children, and how to create the MJOLNIR armor that you and the UNSC are planning to make." Ronald replied.

Dr. Halsey was still in thought about her decision about his plan. Ronald kept his glance at her and then said calm and clearly. "Dr. Halsey…you know some of their lives are going to be lost when your Spartan project is complete. Think about it, what if there were an army of Spartans? Imagine the success!"

Halsey thought about what Ronald just said. She then asked him. "Exactly what do you have in mind for this Spartan project?"

"So you're a little interested" The scientist said and continued. "Allow me to explain." Ronald pressed another button on the remote. The hologram Spartans disappeared, then a hologram twenty four inch high and wide square came up and had a list of names in it. "First of all, we gave this project a code name. The code name is project VIOLET, and as you can see. These are some of the names of the children we chose for this project, and to train to become Spartans."

Looking at the hologram list, Dr. Halsey then asked with a little hesitation. "Exactly how many children will be in this?"

"Two hundred…" Ronald replied to her.

Dr. Halsey then said aloud in her mind,_ "Two hundred?!"_ She was in a struggle on her decision. There was another side of her that thinks this project can do many great things. But yet, two hundred boys and girls would be sacrificed.

"There will be TWO groups in project VIOLET." Ronald explained to Dr. Halsey. "One group is called the Red Army. The other group is called the Blue Army. One hundred children will train in the Red army and one hundred children will train in the Blue army…The Red army Spartans are going to be experts in offensive tactics, the Blue army Spartans will expert defensive and suppressive tactics. That's why we split all the Spartans into two groups…You know, if any opposing army, groups, or any other enemies stand in the UNSC's way. It will be put to an end quickly."

Dr. Halsey thought this was interesting. If this project is successful, enemy militaries would be defeated quickly, innocent lives would be saved, and possibly help HER Spartans a lot. The UNSC would indeed be fearful.

"So Dr. Halsey…do we have a deal?" Ronald asked patiently.

Dr. Halsey thought long and hard about the choice she is about to make. The project could make a big difference in the UNSC, but she didn't want two hundred children to get abducted from their families….Then a thought went by her mind. "_An army of Spartans...with all that power, every world in the galaxy would be safe, and be in peace for a long time." _

She finally made her decision. "Alright Ronald….you got yourself a deal." Ronald and Dr. Halsey shook hands in agreement. Deep down, Dr. Halsey wasn't really sure about her decision. Although she wasn't sure if she would be satisfied if she refused it either. Ronald was pretty happy about her decision. He then said to her.

"Alright then, you're going to stay here for a couple of days so we can discuss future plans for MY Spartan trainees. You will get to meet them, and the officers."

"The officers" Halsey asked Ronald.

"Officer Justin Ramirez and Officer Kyle Carbon" Ronald replied. "Justin will be training the red Spartans and Kyle will be training the blue Spartans."

"I look forward to meeting them." Halsey said. She then put her head down thought for a moment. Ronald gave one of the scientists an order to inform FLEETCOM at Reach about Dr. Halsey. He then sat down on a chair, facing Dr. Halsey and said.

"Alright, now let's get to work then shall we?"

****

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, Field house two**

**December, 6, 2517**

**7:43pm**

Three days later, Ronald introduced Dr. Halsey to the officers. They were in a large and wide area, the two hundred abducted children will arrive there soon…Justin first greeted Halsey.

"Hello, I'm Justin Ramirez."

Then the blue Spartan officer said to her. "And I'm Kyle Carbon."

Dr. Halsey shook their hands in greeting. To her, she guessed they were the people for the job. They somewhat reminded her of Officer Mendez back at Reach, she then said to them. "May I ask you both a question?"

The two officers nodded. Halsey continued.

"Will you train these children to be courageous, strong, and be the best that they can be?"

"Of course we will." Kyle said positively. Justin then said.

"Yes we will, why do you ask?"

"Just wondering" Dr. Halsey said. After a few minutes of conversation, Ronald Galena then introduced Dr. Halsey to some the abducted children that just arrived. She talked to a couple of them, trying to make them feel less nervous. None of them were afraid, just nervous…Dr. Halsey then noticed a six year old boy that had a UNSC trainee t-shirt on that read NICO-78. His head was down, he looked lost and confused. Of course, that's what all the other children looked. Dr. Halsey walked over to him and knelled down next to him and said with her more "gentle, soft" voice.

"Hi, your name is Nico, right?"

He looked up and faced her with his dark brown eyes. "Yeah" was the only thing he said.

"You nervous" Halsey asked Nico. The young boy remained silent. Dr. Halsey wasn't sure about asking him this question. Using her charming voice, she asked him.

"Do….you miss your mom and dad?"

"Mom and dad" Nico said in a clueless way. He looked at her as though he never heard of a mother and a father….Then a UNSC marine came though one of the field house doors and approached Dr. Halsey, a private ranked marine named Hank.

"Miss, I've been sent to escort you back to planet Reach. There's a pelican waiting for us at the landing bay. Reach command needs you." The marine said to Halsey.

"Alright" She replied. "Just give me a second here please."

Dr. Halsey turned her attention towards Nico and looked at him face to face and asked him. "Nico, will you be ready for anything tomorrow?"

"Uh…yes." Nico said quietly. Dr. Halsey then said to the child.

"Good, because let's just say…your life is going to change tomorrow." She then patted him on the shoulder. "Goodbye Nico."

As Hank and Dr. Halsey made their way to the door, she paused and looked back, watching Ronald talk to the children about what they're about to become in the future. "_Forgive me, all of you." _Halsey said in her mind. She's the reason why there about to go through hell. Some of them are going to live, some of them are going to die…she was feeling that pain of guilt and regret that she felt when HER Spartan trainees first came to planet Reach.

"Um, are you ok?" Hank asked Dr. Halsey.

She replied "Yeah, I'm fine." They then made their way to the landing bays outside the base.

****

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, landing bay Sec-4**

**8:09pm**

Dr. Halsey took one last look at the military complex, and then boarded the UNSC Pelican awaiting her. She took a seat. Moments later the UNSC ship took off into the sky. Dr. Halsey took out her laptop out of her carrying case and inserted a small CD that Ronald gave to her. It had profiles of the Spartan trainees of project VIOLET. She looked through all of them. Eventually, she came across Nico's and read through it.

****

[RED SPARTAN-78] UNSC personal profile

Name: Nico Markmen

Age: 6

Spartan number: 78

Birth planet: Planet Vorka (Vor-kah)

Birth Country/Nation/state: The Re-Leon nation

Birth City/Town/Other: Promina city

Birthday: July, 4, 2511

Date drafted to UNSC: December, 4, 2517

Personal info: [From Orta's UNSC, Spartan profile community (SPC).] Nico Markmen has been in a foster home ever since he was a 1 year old. He is mostly quiet and shy, but very loyal to others.

{Attachment}

[Following information from "Promina city newspaper"]

_**Mother and Father shot by Pirate clan! One year old baby survives!**_

At Willbrook town 6:48pm the "Pirate Clan" robbed ten people, and shot two of them. The Promina Pirate Clan is a well known group that attacked people for their money and property for months.

Promina SWAT forces moved in. Four Pirate clan members surrendered to them, five of them were killed by SWAT forces, and two of them got away.

Police investigated the area were three Pirate clan members shot two people. They found a male, a female, and a baby lying in the middle of a parking lot next to a grocery store. They investigated, and found the man and the woman dead, but miraculously the baby was still alive. CSI questioned a few people that witnessed the shooting. According to what most of the witnesses said, they seen a couple walk out of the store, the mother was holding the baby. Then a dark yellow car pulled up and three teenagers said to the couple "To give them money!" After the couple refused, the three shot them. Then they took their belongings and ran off.

According to what one witness, he had seen the parents protect the baby from the gun shots. CSI are still investigating the crime scene. The baby has been sent to foster care.

(Story by reporter: Sally Clark.)

****

The story Dr. Halsey just read was shocking to her and she also found sad….very sad. This boy has seen death up close, watched his parents die protecting him, and lived.

****

***Many years later…..***

After years of training, ninety red army trainees and ninety three blue army trainees became Spartans. The others didn't make it….The Spartans were introduced to their own MJOLNIR armor by Ronald Galena on planet Chi Ceti 2 at Area 65 testing facility. The blue army Spartans received blue armor, and the red army Spartans received red armor. This indicated what army they worked for.

In the year 2525 when Dr. Halsey's Spartans started fighting the Covenant, project VIOLET was called into action. The Red army and Blue army fought the covenant many times, and succeeded. The war was still NOT going well for the UNSC, but the red and blue Spartans where still doing all they can.

On July, 18, 2552 when the red army and blue army Spartans came back to Genesis to restock on weapons, ammo, and supplies they had a rare chance to rest for the night…But that night was the beginning of what will become another war….

The red Spartans heard explosions and then gun shots. The armed red Spartans came out of their barracks and went outside. They found UNSC marines and seventeen men and women in dark blue and gray outfits shooting at each other. The red Spartans came in and helped the marines.

Ten minutes later, the battle was over. The marines looked at the dark blue/gray soldiers dog tags and read their names. Most of the marines knew these people….they were UNSC marines too. A group of marines found one of the security walls had a huge hole that lead out of the military complex and straight into the woods.

Some of the red Spartans went to the blue army barracks to see why the blue Spartans didn't help the marines. When they arrived, they found five dead marines nearby. They then went inside the barrack, no blue Spartan was there. They never had seen them since that night.

****

On July, 19, 2552 Genesis received a distress call from one of their command post. They sent Red army Spartan Squad seven to investigate. They took a Pelican and made their way to the command post.

The squad arrived and investigated the burning small sized building. There were no enemy forces in sight. A red Spartan found a UNSC marine with a knife jammed down his right leg. He was down on the ground trying to move and looked liked he just got beat up badly. The Spartan walked over to him, a red Spartan named Nico Markmen….

"Marine, what happened here?" The red armored Spartan asked the down soldier calmly. The marine had a frightened expression on his face. He yelled out to Nico.

"Get away from me!!"

The marine then pulled out a M6D pistol and aimed it at him. Nico quickly reacted and kicked the gun right out of his hand. The Spartan then pointed his BR55 rifle (battle rifle) at the marine.

"I said what happened...."

"Go ahead and shoot me then." The UNSC marine said. "I just got attacked by one of your Spartan friends anyway."

"_Another Spartan attacking their own comrades"_ Nico said in his mind….He then noticed a fold up sheet of paper tied to the handle of the military knife in the wounded marine. Still cautious about the marine, he untied the folded piece of paper off the handle of the knife. Before reading the letter, he wanted to get a medic for the marine. The Spartan turned on his COM link. *"This is red Spartan 78. I found a survivor that needs medical attention ASAP."*

*"This is red Spartan 64."* A female voice replied. *"Hold your position. I'm on my way."*

While waiting for his COMRADE, Nico unfolded the paper and read it.

****

_We no longer work with the UNSC. We are now one, an army that's fighting for freedom. Planet Orta and Genesis will be ours. We will destroy any UNSC forces that dare stand in are way._

_What we're doing is righteous. Some of YOUR UNSC marines have turned against you even to do this. We are prepared to fight you; we are prepared to start a revolution. Your time shall now end, we are ready for war._

_Always remember, you have brought this upon yourself…._

_-The Blue army and UNSC rebel leaders organization._

****

Nico read it three times. He was shocked and puzzled._ "Why would the Blue army do such a thing?"_

For a minute he stood there. His mind filled with questions. Why did the Blue army, and some UNSC marines, turned against them? Who's the UNSC rebel leader's organization? Then the female Spartan and two UNSC medics came and knelt down next to the wounded marine and begun aiding him. Then Nico said to his Spartan comrade. "Victoria…"

"What is it?" She asked without taking off her concentration on aiding the marine.

"When you're finished, I want you to meet me and the other Spartans at the Pelican."

"What for" Victoria asked.

"I found something that you and the others want to see…." Nico replied. He then returned to his squad.

****

Minutes later, the Spartan squad gathered up at the Pelican. Then red Spartan 80, squad leader Aaron asked. "So, what did you want us here for Nico?"

"I want you and the others to read this." He handed Aaron the letter that he found. Everyone read it and Nico explained about the wounded marine. They didn't know what to say until red Spartan 63, Jonnie said.

"Does…this mean war?"

"Could…but why?" Aaron said. Then two UNSC ships landed. It was the recovery team Aaron called upon to hose down the burning command post and to get the wounded marine back to Genesis base.

"Anyway, let's get back to Genesis." Aaron said. "Marcus, call the general and tell him what we found…"

"Yes sir." Red Spartan 76, Marcus said to Aaron. He turned on his COM channel and told the general the events that just happened.

****

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, Sector-3 meeting room**

**July, 19, 2552**

**7:38pm**

Red army Spartan squad seven came to the room were there general, Havoc, waited for them. General Havoc was lost for words about what he was just informed about. Commander Randy and Genesis command was already informed about the recent events by him.

"So, the Blue army Spartans, and some UNSC marines have rebelled against the UNSC?" General Havoc said. "And this UNSC rebel leader's organization and the Blue army Spartans want to go to war with us?"

General Havoc Kalgan is light skinned, and has dark hair and brown eyes. He is in charge of Genesis military complex for now, while the commander in chief, Randy was gone to do various businesses. Before becoming a general, he has fought twelve battles against the Covenant.

Aaron then asked the general. "Sir, what should we do?"

General Havoc replied. "I talked to Commander Randy while you guys arrived here. This is what he told me...I'm afraid you and all the other Red army Spartans are going to quit the campaign against the Covenant. This was decided by Randy and Dr. Halsey."

"Sir…quitting the campaign against the Covenant" Aaron asked somewhat surprised.

"First of all, just to let you know, Dr. Halsey's Spartans will continue to fight the Covenant." General Havoc informed. "The reason why you're quitting the Covenant campaign is because…you and the Red army are going to fight the Blue army and that rebel organization."

The Red Spartans were speechless. Fighting the Blue army Spartans was going to be very hard for them not just because their Spartans too, but their fighting their own men and women, their own friends, and maybe some of them will fight their own brothers and sisters. Some of them were related….

Havoc then said to the Red Spartan squad. "I know this is going to be hard for you, but we must. I will inform you were you're going to be stationed tomorrow. This meeting is now dismissed."

****

On July, 20, 2552; Red army Spartans have been encountering more former marines, more soldiers in dark blue and gray outfits. The Red army has found out that the former marines suited in the dark blue/gray outfits nicknamed themselves "UNSC Rebels"; they worked for the UNSC rebel leader's organization….

It was indeed official; there was now a CIVIL WAR on planet Orta. The fate of Genesis military complex and Planet Orta are in the hands of the Red army Spartans. They now begin to fight the UNSC rebels, the UNSC rebel leader's organization, and look for the Blue army Spartans…and eventually fight them.

*****

NRV presents….**Halo: The civil war**.

*****


	3. Chapter 3: Decisive encounter

**Chapter 3: Decisive encounter**

**Planet Orta, Central continent, Pelican-010, on route to jungle outskirts of Base-19**

**July, 22, 2552**

**12:02pm**

It was now present time, the fourth day of Orta's civil war. Two UNSC Pelicans flew in the clear blue sky. Below the two airships was mostly jungle, and mid-size grass land. Nico and his red Spartan squad sat patiently inside one of the Pelicans. They waited for General Havoc to brief them on the mission. Aaron, Victoria, Marcus, and Jonnie had a few and short conversations during the wait, of course, Nico kept quiet. About three minutes later, there general said to them on COM channel. *"Okay, this is your squad and the other team's mission. Yesterday UNSC rebel troops have taken over one of our bases. Squad seven will assault the base. Nico and the sniper team in Pelican eleven will be the scouts and support. Nico will also lead that sniper team. Your objective is to take back base nineteen. But be aware of the rebel's defense. We had marines attempt to assault the base, but were forced to retreat by rocket fire and another threat they couldn't identify. Some of them are MIA, see if you can find them."*

After hearing and absorbing the objective, Nico then said to Havoc. *"Sir, with all due respect, I'm not really much of a leader."* Then the general replied with his voice slightly raised.

*"You have your orders, Spartan."*

Nico didn't like leading squads, but of course, he wasn't going to argue. *"Yes sir, I understand."* The Spartan replied calmly. That was the last thing him and his company heard from General Havoc. Nico then switched COM channel and started talking to his sniper team. *"This is red Spartan seventy eight, Nico. Is this sniper team on Pelican eleven?"* A male voice then replied to him.

*"Yes Nico, this is Matthew, red Spartan forty three. I'm with Spartan seventeen, Melissa, and Spartan seven, Cynthia. We will be working with you."*

*"We'll meet up when we land."* Nico informed Matthew.

*"Roger that."*

After waiting ten minutes, UNSC Pelican 10 and 11 landed on a short grass area. Double checking their equipment, all the Red army Spartans exited the airships and laid foot on the ground. It was quiet, only the sound of the calm wind was heard around the area. The Spartans were dropped very far away from Base-19; they will have to walk the rest of the way. Nico was given a map of the area earlier today; navigation won't really be a problem. He walked over to Matthew, Melissa, and Cynthia, and said to them. "Alright, let's set up formation first. Matthew, Melissa…draw out your handguns, Cynthia, keep your sniper rifle at hand." Nico and Cynthia kept their rifles armed. Matthew and Melissa took out their M6C magnums and holstered their S2 AM's on their backs. Then Nico faced Aaron and said to him. "Sir, me and the sniper team will take point and scout ahead. You and the squad will cover our sixth. We're all going in the jungle."

"Alright" Aaron said to Nico. "We can do that." He then made sure his squad was ready. Nico and the sniper team started moving forward silently. Seconds later, Aaron, Jonnie, Victoria, and Marcus followed.

The tall and large trees in the jungle towered over the Spartans. Tree branches clustered with leaves shaded the ground, it was a little dark. There were few beams of light from the sun enlightening the area. It kind of seemed to be a decent place to Nico. For some reason, he just enjoyed observing the world, the environment; it was his way of relaxing himself….The Spartan never wanted to admit it though.

Eight minutes later, moving forward to their destination, Cynthia suddenly said to both her sniper team and Aaron's company. *"Stop…."* in an instant they all halted. Cynthia and Nico observed the area through the scopes of their sniper rifles. Distantly behind, Aaron watched Nico, keeping his battle rifle ready. He was impressed with Nico's leadership. To him, Nico has come a long way since his role in the Covenant war….all his squad mates did, he was proud. But will never admit it.

There was no enemy in sight. Melissa scanned the area carefully. She blinked twice, and then asked Cynthia. "Why did we stop?"

"I don't know" Cynthia replied quietly. "I felt as though we should, I just had that feeling. This place looked like a spot that something bad would happen…."

The grass went up to the Spartans knees, it was dark all around they were at, no sunlight. There were a few small hills ahead, and many bushes all around. A few seconds later, Nico was about tell everyone to keep going…But then, distantly at a large hill at their left, a Scorpion tank moved down the hill with two UNSC rebels sitting on the sides of it.

*"Down, down."* Nico said immediately. All the Spartans got down to the ground, staying near the bushes. The rebel Scorpion stopped….it felt like the whole world just stopped….Nico watched the hell on wheels rotate its turret around, he almost skipped a heartbeat. Nothing happened yet….fifteen seconds later, the enemy Scorpion moved forward, across the area, and into the jungle. It was now gone. Nico had everyone wait about a minute before making a single move.

*"Let's keep going…."* Nico said quietly. They kept moving forward.

****

After six more minutes of walking, the red Spartans noticed smoke ahead of them. Melissa then said to the sniper team. "That smoke, it could be an SOS from marine survivors." Nico scanned the area carefully, he then informed on COM link.

*"Sniper team is checking out that smoke over there. Aaron, have the squad cover us."*

Nico, Matthew, Melissa, and Cynthia moved forward and found a M12 LRV Warthog. The UNSC assault vehicle was flipped on its side and huge chunks and pieces were all over the place. Smoke was coming out of the front. There were three UNSC marines on the ground by the destroyed vehicle. "Let me check them" Melissa said. "I have medic experience." She then checked each marine for any possible sign of life….none. Nico found an opened oval shaped medal on the ground next to one of the marines. The fallen soldier looked like he attempted to crawl away. But obviously didn't make it. Nico picked up the opened medal; it had a picture of a woman and two kids, one a boy and the other a girl. To the Spartans guess, this UNSC marine was determined to see them again…..

Matthew then asked Melissa. "No luck?" The female Spartan looked back at him and shook her head negatively. Matthew then said to the sniper team. "Grab their dog tags and anything else useful." After Nico heard that, he grabbed the marine's dog tag, and the medal with the picture of the family in it. The red Spartan never knew what the word "family" truly meant. He heard it a few times. To Nico, it meant something "precious". That's all he knew, nothing else.

****

Eleven minutes passed, there were no enemy forces so far, but the Spartans found four dead marines along the way. They took their dog tags and kept moving. Then they found a tall grassy and very wide midsized hill. Nico then said. *"Hold on. I think beyond that hill is where the base is."* He then took out his map and looked.

*"This is it"* Nico said. *"Base nineteen is on the other side of the hill. Sniper team, draw out your rifles. Aaron's squad, be on standby."* Everyone set up formation, Nico thought up his strategy on approaching this. The hill had tall grass, which provided them an advantage. *"Let's observe the area"* Nico said to his sniper team. The snipers lay down on the ground and crawled up the tall grass hill slowly. They made it to the top of the hill. Nico observed the area.

The bottom of the hill lead to a cut down grass green field and the base was in the middle, distantly ahead. Nico and his company viewed the building at from its right side. The complex was a two floored small and wide building; it had sandbag bunkers all around. There were five UNSC rebels on the wide rooftop of the building; each of them had rocket launchers….Three MA5B assault rifle armed rebels were guarding the back entrance. There were two UNSC rebels guarding the front entrance, each wielding BR55 rifles, and there was parked Scorpion tank, the one the snipers and company seen earlier.

Nico then said to Cynthia very quietly. "Cynthia, tell Aaron's squad how to get to the back entrance. They will assault the back end of the base on my signal."

"Yes, will do." Cynthia said. She made her way back to Aaron's company. A minute later, Cynthia returned, sniper rifle at the ready. Aaron and his squad managed to find a spot to hide until the attack. Nico watched the enemy rocket men on the rooftop, studying their movements.

*"We'll move more to the front entrance; take out the rebel troops on the roof, and then the ones at the front."* Nico said quietly on COM link. He then crawled to a different spot, his comrades followed…They now had a better angle view of the front entrance. The leader of the sniper team told the others to prepare themselves. Nico, Melissa, Matthew, and Cynthia laid their sniper rifles on the ground, using the bipods to steady them. They all looked through their scopes examining the rocket launcher wielding rebels. Three of the rebels were having a conversation at the left side of the roof. The other two rebels were at the right side of the roof observing the jungle. Each selected and locked on their crosshairs to their own target. Nico then said to his comrades.

*"I will fire the first shot, and then the rest of you will take them out. Be sure the fifth rebel doesn't do anything, get him quickly."*

*"I'll take care of the fifth enemy."* Cynthia informed. She and the other Red army Spartans awaited Nico. The sniper team leader steadied his rifle; he took a couple of deep breaths to relax his body. Then seconds later…he fired. A "BLAMM!" sound was made. The bullet glided in the air and hit the rebel in the left side of his chest; he then fell to the ground. The two rebels next to the dead man jumped back and looked for the shooter. Then in a blink of an eye, Cynthia fired at her target. The sniper bullet hit the rebel in the head, causing him to fall right on his face. Before the other UNSC rebel could react, Melissa shot him in the neck, he was down. Then Matthew fired at the fourth rebel at the right side of the roof. The bullet hit the enemy in the head, he was dead. Cynthia shot down the last rebel, before he could say anything.

Behind a hill facing the back entrance of the base distantly ahead, Aaron and his squad had seen it all happen. They were impressed, but didn't show it. All five of those enemy troops on the rooftop were killed no more than six seconds. As the rest of squad glanced at the roof, Aaron said quietly, trying to regain his comrade's focus. "Eyes open, we still have to wait for Nico's signal."

They were undetected, Nico's sniper team. *"Good work"* the sniper group leader commented, and then faced Matthew at his right. *"Let's take out the enemies at the front entrance."* Then suddenly, a sniper bullet hit Nico in his left shoulder, an inch away from his head. "Down the hill" Matthew said quickly. All the Spartan snipers rolled themselves down the tall grass hill to safety. Nico noticed the enemy sniper before he got cover…and almost couldn't believe who it was….His shield system beeped red in alert, moments later, it recharged. He took a calm deep breath, and then his COM link was turned on, it was Aaron.

*"Nico, it appears the rebels are aware of you. What should we do?"*

*"Listen."* Nico replied to Aaron. *"We got a Blue army Spartan sniper out there…I'll take care of him, your squad can commence attack now, my company will support you."*

"Are you sure about that?" Melissa asked. Nico nodded to her. Gunfire from the back entrance started going off. Then seconds later, machine gun fire went off. Then Jonnie said to Nico on COM link.

*"We got two enemy warthogs that just showed up, we can use that support."*

"Move out" Nico calmly said to his comrades. Melissa, Matthew, and Cynthia went to aid Aaron's squad. Nico reloaded his S2 AM sniper rifle as Cynthia said.

"Good luck Spartan."

Nico nodded positively to her. He started making his way up the hill. The firefight sounded more intense now. Putting that aside, Nico peeked out of the hilltop. The enemy sniper fired at him. To his instinct, Nico ducked his head down. The bullet flew centimeters above his head. It was indeed a Blue army Spartan.

****

Meanwhile, Aaron's squad faced heavy and aggressive fire from the former marines. Jonnie and Victoria fired back, Jonnie managed to take down one. Victoria then informed her squad. "There at the sandbag bunkers, watch the warthogs at the right." Marcus then steadied his M19 SSM rocket launcher and said.

"I got this." He then reveled himself out of cover and fired. The heavy weapon made a "PUH!!!" sound; it landed a direct hit on one of the enemy hogs. The gunner of the vehicle went flying in the air and slammed to the ground. Marcus got back to cover. Aaron and Jonnie started firing back. Victoria then threw a frag grenade; it managed to hit two UNSC rebels in a sandbag pile. Jonnie then noticed sniper fire raining down on the rebels from the upper left; it was Nico's sniper team.

"About time" Jonnie said as he reloaded his MA5B assault rifle. Marcus then fired at the remaining enemy warthog. It was hit, forcing it to flip backwards and then burst into flames.

****

Nico was still hidden behind the hill and thinking how to deal with this new foe that's trying to kill him. The red Spartan peeked out of the hill and spotted the blue Spartan in the tall grass terrain far ahead. The enemy sniper didn't see him. Nico slowly took out his sniper rifle and aimed it at him. The blue Spartan noticed Nico and quickly jumped sideway's, dodging the bullet Nico just fired. The enemy sniper fired at the red Spartan. It hit Nico's left forearm and bounced off his shield. He gave an "Ack!" in pain and rolled himself back down the hill, ignoring the pain. His shield was almost empty. The Spartan waited a few seconds for his shield to recharge.

"_There's got to be a way to take him down, quick." _Nico said in his mind. He put himself in thought. His disadvantage is that the enemy blue Spartan can notice him really quick, and was also well hidden in the tall grass. The red Spartan thought about a weakness the sniper might have….Nico realized the blue Spartan was wide open and had no place to hide except for the tall grass. All the enemy troops at the front entrance were gone. The enemy sniper also has the same sniper rifle as Nico's which fires four rounds. If he could dodge the enemy snipers shots, he will be completely vulnerable.

Nico developed his strategy and went to the top of the hill and moved left, quickly crouching and running at the same time. One bullet zipped behind him, and then seconds later another bullet flew behind him. Nico can hear the bullets zipping by him; he kept running, counting the shots in his head. The next bullet hit him in his right arm and disabled his shields. To Nico's instinct, he dived to the grassy ground and heard another bullet zipped by him, it missed. The red Spartan rolled and steadied his body, putting himself in the prone position on the ground. He then searched and then spotted the enemy Spartan in his scope.

The blue Spartan was trying to get another magazine out of his ammo pouch as fast as he can. Nico fired at him. The sniper bullet hit the enemy in the chest and disabled his shield. When he fired a second round, the blue Spartan jolted back and the bullet missed. Nico steadied his rifle and shot the enemy Spartan in the back of his head. Blood flew in the air as the enemy fell to the ground. His right arm twitched a few seconds and stopped….The blue Spartan was dead.

Nico watched the dead corpse while reloading his sniper rifle. He heard a few gun shots echoing in the air. The red Spartan started to stealthily make his way to the battle zone and help his fellow comrades.

****

Now by the back entrance of the enemy base, Matthew gave a deep breath in relief. He then noticed Nico approaching him and the other two snipers with cautiously. "What's going on?" Nico asked the sniper team in wonder as he noticed the firefighting went silent moments ago. Then Melissa said to the sniper group leader.

"The battle over here has been put to an end. Aaron's squad is breeching the base. They told us to be on standby out here."

Nico then joined his group. Cynthia then said to him. "I'm relieved that you are alright." The sniper team leader then nodded to her in appreciation. He didn't want to talk about what he just done….He was probably the first Spartan in the Red army to kill a Blue army Spartan.

****

Inside the UNSC rebel controlled base, Base-19, Aaron finished off a wounded rebel with his BR55. "Clear." He said to Jonnie, Marcus, and Victoria. "Move up." The squad then approached a stairway and went up slowly. Approaching the top, Aaron and Marcus, armed with their handguns checked the right and left sides. The right side was a dead end, the left side lead to a hall. There were three closed doors at the left and a row of windows at the right. Aaron nodded to his comrades in signal to check each door. Quietly, they approached each door one by one. The first room was clear; it was a small armory that had battle rifles, M6C magnums, and rocket launchers. A majority of the weapons were gone, very few were there. The red Spartans then checked the second room, it was a temporally prison. No one was in the prison cells.

Aaron and Victoria approached the last room door first. The squad leader opened the door, with Victoria at the ready. Inside the room they found a lone UNSC rebel sitting in a chair, next to a desk, with a M6D pistol aimed under his chin. There was a small set up fire next to him, with a few books in the flame. The two ready Spartans were unsure whether to fire or not, the rebel then said to them. "Well…I guess this is how it was meant to end….I won't get to see the UNSC's defeat…when we get power at OUR home base…it will be the end of all you. I used to be a marine as well, I used to actually look up to you Spartans, but I know what this is all about….You won't get away with the evil things you done, that's a promise. You evil people….you caused all this…." The rebel then pulled the trigger of his handgun. Aaron was actually a little surprised by the enemy soldier's action. The UNSC rebel then fell out the chair and landed on the ground.

All the red Spartans searched the room. The squad leader, Aaron then found a book on the desk. It was titled "_The ultimate betrayal. Written by UNSC rebel sergeant, Jon Leonardo Edwin"_ The Spartan guessed that the dead rebel in front of him must have written this book, he then turned a page, it appeared the book wasn't near complete, but just began. He read the first page.

"_This may not look like a book, but more of a journal. I'm UNSC rebel sergeant Jon Leonardo Edwin, a leader of a rebel squad. We had this planned for a long time, the UNSC rebel leader's organization. I was shocked to find out the Blue army Spartans allied with us, the reason I don't know. I have been with the UNSC rebels since the day we declared war against the UNSC marines and the Red army Spartans. Some people get confused about the UNSC rebel name, thinking were Insurrectionists rebels….we are far superior then them. UNSC rebels are marines that betrayed the UNSC Marine Corps. It was a nickname our leaders made, who knows, we might fall down in history, and people will want to remember a name….Our name was inspired by both the UNSC and the Insurrectionist rebels, I always thought the origin of the UNSC rebel name was odd."_

That was all the book had written in it. Aaron was speechless, until Marcus asked him. "Sir, what's with the book?" The Spartan squad leader then looked back at him and replied.

"I'll explain once we all regroup."

****

Outside the base, Aaron then called in a recovery team. He then explained to all the red Spartans about the recent events in the base, and his find. Nico and the sniper team were silent after what the squad leader explained. Eventually three Pelicans landed, a few squads of marines approached the base. A marine staff sergeant then approached Aaron and said. "Sir, by Genesis commands orders, Spartans seventeen, forty three, and seven will report back to Genesis. Your squad will stay here for now." Matthew then said.

"I guess that's us." He then looked at Nico and said. "We done excellent work today Nico, see you some other time." After Matthew said that, Melissa then said to Nico.

"It's been nice working with you." She then joined Matthew who was walking towards one of the Pelicans. Cynthia then said to the once sniper team leader.

"Good luck Nico." After their farewells, they all boarded the Pelican. The UNSC ship took off into the cloudy sky and flew back to Genesis. Aaron then ordered everyone.

"Alright everyone, let's get this area cleaned up and get ourselves organized, let's go!" He then sent Marcus and Nico on guard patrol.

****

Nico approached one of the hillsides. To the area the enemy blue Spartan sniper was at. Nico cautiously approached the dead Spartan. He stared at the fallen enemy, and said as though he was talking to the enemy. "Goodbye, fellow Spartan." The red Spartan gave a quick salute to the blue Spartan. Nico was very loyal to any other Spartan, Red, Blue, or Green. Killing another of his own was really hard for him, and going to take a lot of getting use to….He learned something important throughout this mission though: Leadership, which he knew he will need for the future of this war. And he also knew the Blue army Spartans; his former comrades were indeed fighting against him and the Red army Spartans…..but why?


	4. Chapter 4: Night

**Chapter 4: Night**

**Planet Orta, Central continent, Base-19, barracks**

**July, 22, 2552**

**9:37pm**

It was now dark; the sapphire night took over the sky. Inside the captured base, Aaron, Nico, and Marcus were sitting in their individual beds. Nico was cleaning his sniper rifle. The long barrel of the rifle was filled with gunpowder inside it. Marcus was assembling his M6C magnum. Aaron was thinking up some improvements for better defense of the base and writing them down on a notebook. They all managed to get a break from war...for now. It was silent, until Marcus asked Aaron. "Sir, where did Victoria and Jonnie go?"

Taking his eyes off the notebook and putting it aside, the squad leader then replied to his comrade. "Victoria went to help install the security cameras that were sent to us by that UNSC ship that dropped by an hour ago. I had Jonnie be in command of the guard patrols." Silence took over the room again. Then Marcus asked, sounding somewhat down.

"So it's definitely clear that were fighting the Blue army Spartans?"

"Yeah" Nico said and tilt his head down. "….unfortunately." The red Spartan sniper already told his squad about the events earlier today. Aaron suddenly got up and said a little louder than usual.

"Well, anyway, let's make sure Jonnie and Victoria get the GP's back here." The squad leader walked out the door. Marcus and Nico followed him. Aaron doesn't want to have his squad worry about the fact that it's true that there fighting their own. He wants to keep their mind off that.

****

Outside the base and armed with assault rifles, Victoria adjusted the last security camera which was at the front door of the base. Jonnie was next to the female Spartan calling all the GP's (Guard patrols) on his COM link, telling them to return to the building. Victoria finished installing the camera and asked Jonnie. "No reports of hostile units?"

Jonnie shook his head negatively. "None at all…." He then looked down in deep thought. Victoria noticed him being somewhat unusual, she asked him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all" Jonnie replied, Victoria could tell he was lying by the sound of his voice. She then said to him.

"Hey, we've been best friends ever since we first trained together many years ago. I know you, there's something wrong." Jonnie then looked away for a moment. Like Victoria said, she and Jonnie have been best friends since they were both sent to become Spartans. They have fought alongside for a long time.

Then Jonnie said. "I just…." He paused. "I just feel bad about something." Before Victoria could say another word, Jonnie spotted five groups of people coming from the hilltops. He turned on his COM link, with his MA5B at the ready.

*"GP's, is that you guys and your squads?"*

*"Yeah, it's us…it's us."* One of the UNSC marines replied to Jonnie on COM link. They then approached the Spartan. Aaron and the others came out of the front door and walked over to Victoria. The squad leader scanned the area, and then said to his company.

"I see we got everyone here. Let's get back inside and call it a night."

Victoria then informed the Spartan squad leader. "Sir, Sergeant Trevor and his squad volunteered to guard the base for the night."

"Good" Aaron said to Victoria. "Inform them that they will be guard duty for the night, and tell them I said thanks. Now let's get inside." The Spartans and marines then went back inside the base.

****

Back at their barracks, Marcus, Aaron, and Jonnie took off their Spartan helmets. Nico checked the magazine in his M6D pistol and laid it under his pillow, pointed in a safe direction away from his head. Each of the red Spartans had their weapons aside. Aaron was first to remove his helmet and show his identity. His skin was pale, had green eyes, and crew cut light brown hair. Then Jonnie reveled his face, he was a mix of pale and tan skin, slim chin, light green eyed, and had dark brown hair. Marcus took off his helmet and tilted his neck side by side. He was dark skinned; light brown eyed, and had black hair. What's unique of him is that he is one of the rare few Spartans from planet Earth, he was from Africa. But he doesn't remember Earth at all, it was a lost memory.

Victoria then entered the room. She sat on her bed and took off her helmet. Her skin was light tan, had brown eyes, narrow chin, and had short length dark brown hair. The red Spartan swayed her head a few times to loosen up her hair, and then put the headpiece aside. All the Spartans were still in their armor, they didn't mind sleeping in it though.

Aaron had his head down in thought; Jonnie noticed and then asked him. "What's wrong with you Aaron?"

"It's nothing…." Aaron replied. "Let's get some sleep. Nico, turn off the lights."

The lights were shut off. They all lied down in their beds. The moon light beamed out the window by Nico's bed, shining upon him. He took off his red Spartan helmet, he was tan skinned, his eyes were dark brown, had black hair that was shaped as a wide V above his forehead and square cut on the sides and back of his head. Eventually, Nico started to doze off into sleep….

****

_A powerful handgun went off, four shots were fired. Two people fell to the ground._

"_Ah!!!!"_

"_Huh!!"_

_Nico was lying on the ground. An adult man and a woman were on the ground right next to him. The two adults were bleeding, coughing, and breathing for dear life. "My beloved son, Nico…." The woman said to Nico weakly. "If you somehow make it out of here we…want you to remember that we love you more than anything….."_

_The handgun went off again multiple times. Then the sound of police sirens echoed as unfamiliar voices talked around Nico._

_There was then a flash of white. Nico was gone from the scene. He could only see white now. A strange unusual voice then said._ "_A horrific war is going to happen, a war that many warriors will end up dying. This war is where your death awaits you….Are you ready for it?" The voice was silent for a moment. "The war you're in now…is not the one…."_

****

Nico quickly woke up from slumber and had his hand griped on his M6D. He roused up from his bed and looked around the room for a few seconds. He snapped out of the trance of sleep and was now fully awake. "_That dream again...._" Nico said in his mind. He had the same dream quite a few times; there was something about that dream. The two people in the dream that get shot, they just seemed….familiar. And that quote at the end of the dream, what did it mean? Was it trying to tell him something?

"_Why do I always have the same dream?"_

Nico noticed that his squad mates where still asleep. He looked at his pocket watch that he had in one of his ammo pouches. It was 6:48am. It was morning, the next day. The Spartan put on his helmet and quietly went out of the room and brought his handgun with. He thought he would go outside and get some fresh air to put his mind at ease.

****

The Red army Spartan went through the front entrance of the base and went outside. Nico took a deep breath and gazed at the rising yellow sun. The sound of power tools were echoing not too far away from him, and some commotion going on around the base. It appeared that everyone in the settlement is getting ready to report for duty. Nico went to the left side of the base and found two UNSC marines building a machine gun and one of them piling up sandbags next to the heavy weapon. The Spartan approached the marines and offered assistance.

"Need any help sir?"

One of the marines looked back at the Spartan and said. "Yeah, if you want to help us"

Then the soldiers and Nico worked together on the gun. The red Spartan was pleased that these marines didn't actually misjudge him; unlike other marines in the past….He and the Spartans faced a lot of prejudice. But the only choice they had was to ignore it.

****

Eleven minutes later, Nico's COM link turned on, it was Aaron. *"Nico, where are you?"* The squad leader sounded impatient by the fact he went wondering off, Nico replied calmly.

*"I'm helping a few marines outside sir. I woke up early."*

Aaron then replied in a more calm tone. *"Listen. Get your weapons and ammo gathered up and come over to the back entrance. We have a mission."*

*"…Yes sir."* Nico then went back into the base and prepared for what's to come…Of course, more fighting. He asked himself a question in his mind that he asked himself every day. _"Is this the day that I die?"_ But he didn't let a question like that distract him from the mission. To him, fulfilling the mission is more important than his life.


	5. Chapter 5: Assault

**Chapter 5: Assault**

**Planet Orta, Central continent, Harmon town, west side**

**July, 23, 2552**

**7:34am**

"Were here to report to field commander James" Aaron said informally to a UNSC marine sergeant. He and his Red Army Spartan squad just landed in the large town minutes ago. They were in a wide field that was surrounded by midsized buildings. Next to a smaller building that had marines loading machine guns, carrying other injured soldiers, piling up sandbags, and some of them were watching the post from the rooftop. It was a UNSC marine settlement.

The red Spartans Pelican then took off into the clear blue sky as the sergeant ran inside the building to get the field commander. Victoria scanned the area, she then said to her squad. "It looks like there's been a battle going on in this town." Aaron then looked back at her and said.

"Yeah, there was an attack here in Harmon town earlier this morning. According to what General Havoc told me, it was attacked by UNSC rebels. The battle for this town has been going on for a while. The marines, who got them on the run right now, can't advance much because of their tanks and anti-aircraft guns."

Jonnie then asked the squad leader in wonder. "Sir, why would the rebels attack a town, what would they want with it? And how did they get tanks anyway?"

"I don't know" Aaron replied. "But it seems that the rebels have more surprises then we thought. After the last mission, I was surprised they got a hold of tanks…From what I was informed, the citizens of the town were evacuated…the rebels didn't have any interest in killing or even taking them hostage…."

"They just let them go?" Victoria asked. Before Aaron could replay, Commander James approached the Spartan squad, he then said to them.

"Glad to have some reinforcements, I'm field commander James; I'm in command for this mission." The red Spartans gave a loyal salute, the high ranked marine continued. "Alright, this is what I want you guys to do. Our troops had to fallback due to reports of attacks by four hostile tanks. We need to terminate their armor and destroy their main settlement they have up at the southeastern part of the town. Four demolitionist and four squads of marines are joining you….Do I make myself clear?"

All the Spartans said "Yes sir" to him. James handed Aaron a rectangular device and a map, he then said. "Use this device to destroy their base. I'll radio in the company joining you, remain on standby." James went inside the building. The Spartans scanned the area and waited. Gun shots were echoing off at a very far distance…..Nico overheard three marines quietly talking to each other.

"Check it out, a group of Red Army Spartans."

"So what, they aren't so tough. I hate them, don't even talk about them."

"Robin told me that they plan to overthrow the UNSC someday. I personally think the same thing."

"Yeah right, there just a bunch of jackasses who show off."

Nico ignored their conversation and harsh comments he could barely hear. Ever since the Blue Army Spartans and "rebel marines" turned against Genesis, most of the UNSC marines did NOT trust the Red Army Spartans. Some of the marines even spread rumors about them.

Minutes later, a group of the UNSC vehicles stopped at the side of a street. Five were troop transport vehicles, the other two were gauss canon equipped warthogs. Each of the vehicles had marines in them. Field commander James then said to the Spartans on COM link. *"From here on then, Aaron, you will now be in command. My troops and I are going to engage rebels at the east flanks. Contact me when you completed the task. Let's get moving."* The squad of Spartans quickly went to the warthogs and drove to the southeastern part of Harmon town.

****

Around fifteen minutes passed. Aaron (who was in a warthog ahead of the other ones) looked at his map, it had the enemy base marked in it. He then turned on his COM link and said to his comrades. *"Let's stop here. Spartans, form up with me."* The warthogs slowed down and stopped. They were in the middle of a street with buildings at both sides of it; ahead of them was a four way intersection. Straight across was a bridge that leads to the southeast part of the town. The Spartans came to their leader. Aaron formed up a plan and said to his squad.

"When we get across that bridge ahead of us over there we will split up into groups of two. Marcus, you will lead your team of demolitionist. Victoria and Jonnie, you and two squads of marines will be with Marcus. Nico, you and the rest of the marines are coming with me."

One of the marines who overheard Aaron then asked. "Sir, what about the Warthogs, can't we just take them with us?"

Aaron replied to the marine. "If we have all of us in those warthogs running around in a combat zone in an unknown closed-in urban area, and not to mention the enemy tanks out there…then were more likely to get killed. So were best off doing this on foot." He then looked down momentarily, and gave second thought. "Then again…." Aaron informed the UNSC marines what their formation will be. He had the two gauss canon warthogs join Marcus group.

"Let's get moving everyone." The Spartan squad leader said. Staying low and ready, they scanned the area as they proceeded across the bridge. Nothing was in sight.

Across the bridge they approached a large building that had a forward going street on both right and left side of the structure. Aaron and the others halted. The leader looked back at Marcus squad and said. "Marcus, you and your group go left. We will go right. Let's try to stay close as we can."

"Yes sir." The demolitionist team leader faced his group and said. "You heard him, let's go." Aaron and the others went right. Marcus and his group went left.

****

The demolitionist and Marcus were armed with their handguns. They traveled down the road for eight minutes….Then an explosion erupted that sounded very nearby and gunfire started to go off. Seconds later, Marcus COM link turned on. *"This is Aaron."* The squad leader said in alert. *"Marcus, we got two tanks over here, we could use an assist."*

*"Hold on, were on our way."* Marcus quickly replied. Aaron then informed HIS group.

*"Comrades in my squad, fall back until those tanks are terminated."*

Of course, the buildings were in the demolitionist way. Marcus searched for a way around. He found an alleyway that hopefully leads to the other side. "Everyone, this way" Marcus commanded. "Jonnie, Victoria, you and the others watch our backs. Demolitionist, follow me. Warthog's one and two, stay here!"

The group of soldiers jolted across the alleyway to the end, looking at what they found. At the distant right, two hostile Scorpion tanks came from another roadway and fired at one of the buildings, creating a loud "BOOM!!!" sound. Marcus quickly gave a command. "Demolitionist, aim…." The rocket men took aim. "…fire!"

All four of the demolitionist, including Marcus, fired their rocket launchers. Two rockets hit the first tank, it was destroyed. Two other rockets missed the second tank, the last one barely hit. Before the tank turned towards them, Marcus and another demolitionist fired their last rockets. It was a direct hit and the tank was totaled. The rocket men reloaded their weapons. Marcus commented. "Good job men. We had the element of surprise on our side. Let's try to keep it that wa-" He silenced himself and then noticed a UNSC rebel slowly emerge out of the cockpit of the second tank and took out and aimed a rocket launcher.

Marcus thought fast and said aloud. "Back in the alleyway now"

The enemy fired. Marcus and his comrades jumped back in the alleyway avoiding a rocket that hit the ground. The explosion didn't harm them. Then Jonnie came up and fired his assault rifle out the alley, towards the enemy. The rebel was hit seven times and then rolled out the tank and on to the ground. Jonnie went back to the alley and informed the others. "Hostile dead…."

"Damn that was close!" one of the rocket men said in surprise. Victoria checked the demolitionist and Marcus for any injuries. She then turned on her COM link and said with concern.

*"Aaron, are you and the others alright?"*

*"Yeah we made it, barely."* Aaron said. *"Are you all ok?"*

*"Were good."* Victoria replied. The Spartan squad leader then said to her and the others.

*"To my guess, the UNSC rebels were starting to advance slowly….Be on your guard. Let's keep moving."*

****

After twelve minutes of traveling, Marcus and Aaron's groups met up at an intersection that turns into a one way road. Ahead of them was a collapsed building gapped between two other light orange midsized buildings. Everyone halted as Aaron paused. The Spartan squad leader took out his tactical map and observed it, he said to himself. "Were close" The red Spartan thought for a few seconds on how to take on this base. He looked back at his group and said.

"Everyone form up, I want to tell you guys my plan ahead of time." The others came to Aaron, the two gauss hogs kept guard. "Over that fallen building ahead of us is the rebel's settlement. Marcus and two of his demolition men will commence a surprise attack in that right tower. Victoria, me, the Warthogs, and the marines will commence the forward assault…." Before Aaron continued he took out the midsized rectangular device that was strapped to his right leg and handed it to Marcus. The item James gave him earlier.

Marcus observed the device and said. "So were using the MLB.M4 bomb...sweet."

"Exactly" Aaron said to Marcus. "You and the rocket men joining you will eventually go into the base and use the MLB.M4 bomb to blow up the base while we have them distracted. Since you had most experience taking down hostile bases during previous battles with the Covenant, then I think it's best if you go."

The MLB.M4 bomb was originally made by Genesis. Its light weight and man portable. The highest time limit it can be set to is three minutes. This bomb is capable of taking down a brick or steel made large building if placed wisely. There are also other more powerful versions as well.

"Sir" Marcus asked the red Spartan squad leader. "Is it possible I can go alone? I don't want to put other lives at risk for my own when it comes to base raiding."

"Well whatever you think is best." Aaron said to Marcus and then finished briefing the objective to his company. "Anyway, Nico and the remaining demolitionist will be our support inside the left tower. Jonnie and a squad of marines will cover our sixth so we don't get attacked from behind. I will give further orders when we get there. Let's scout ahead."

The group cautiously made their way to the buildings. They heard the sound of engine running vehicles as they approached. Aaron held up his left hand in signal for the others to halt. He signaled to Nico and Marcus to follow him up the rubble of the destroyed building. The Spartans climbed up the pile all the way to the top and slowly peeked at the scenery.

Ahead of them at a distance was a huge hardware store a little to the right and a wide parking area with abandoned vehicles at the left. More down left of the parking lot was a warehouse and a Scorpion tank. Around the hardware store were seven anti-aircraft guns. Few UNSC rebels were either patrolling the area or loading boxes/crates into the engine running trucks parked next to the hardware store.

Nico scanned the trucks and the rebels loading boxes into them. He thought to himself. _"What's in those crates? What would the rebels want with a hardware complex?"_

Aaron did one final scan of the area and then signaled to the other two Spartans to come back down to the ground. He then had everyone form up and reviewed to Nico and Marcus. "Alright Nico, Marcus, you two go to your post. Left tower is Nico's, and Marcus will be the right one."

Nico and Marcus said "Yes sir" and had the selected rocket men follow them into the buildings. Aaron turned to Jonnie and pointed to a squad of marines, and then said. "Jonnie, you and that squad will cover our sixth here."

Jonnie nodded and said "Yes sir." Aaron took his gaze off him and looked at Victoria, the two gauss canon Warthogs, and the remaining available marines and said to them.

"All you follow me and hold position near the top of that pile of rubble. The two hogs will go around. When the surprise attack has been executed, we'll start the assault. Be sure to follow me."

As Aaron and his group moved out, Marcus and two demolitionists were in the right tower in the second floor. The room they were in had four windows that gave them a good view. Nico and the two other demolitionists in the left tower (in the third floor which that had five windows) scanned the area. The trucks that were at the hardware store were gone. Then Nico's, the rocket men's, and Aaron's COM links turned on.

*"Listen"* Marcus said to everyone. *"My men and I will get rid of that tank over at the warehouse. Then I'll stay for a little longer for support, and then I'll go into the base. We got to be on the lookout for that other tank, or possibly even more of them….were commencing surprise attack in a matter of seconds. Be prepared."*

Marcus and his other two men took aim…..The red Spartan said aloud and clearly "Fire". Three 102mm rockets went soaring through the air. Almost instantly Aaron gave command.

"Follow me to the abandon warehouse, go!" Aaron's group went over the rubble and charged down the area. The rockets made a direct hit on the tank. UNSC rebels were on their way.

"There are enemies over there!!! They're going to that warehouse!!" Aaron's group heard a UNSC rebel yell out. The dark blue/gray troops scattered to abandon parked cars in the parking area, some jumped into built sandbag bunkers they made earlier. They then open fire on the running Spartans and marines. Aaron's group was able to avoid most of the bullets thanks to some abandon parked vehicles next to them.

An unfortunate running marine was shot in the neck, causing him to run right into a parked van and tumble to the ground. "Man down!!" A marine yelled out. They kept moving to the warehouse. The two UNSC marine Warthogs moved in and provided cover fire. The demolitionist in both buildings fired, the rockets hit a few cars, creating three big explosions. Rebel bodies went flying in the air and landed on the ground, or on the roofs of cars. But it wasn't enough, there was many, many, of them.

Aaron's group made it inside the warehouse. They started firing at approaching aggressive firing UNSC rebels through the many windows in the warehouse. The savage sound of gunfire roared across the battlefield. A marine glanced at the totaled tank outside as he peeked out of one of the warehouse windows and said in advice. "We can use that tank as extra cover so we can get a better shot!" Then Aaron, who was next to the soldier, said to him.

"I'll go. Get some of the others to come with me!"

"You heard him, let's move!" the marine said to a few other troops. Aaron and five other marines jolted to the destroyed tank and successfully made it, thanks to Victoria and the other troops covering fire. Then Aaron's group started firing at the enemy troops. The Spartan squad leader then noticed an incoming enemy rocket hit one of the gauss hogs. A loud "BAAAM!!!" echoed across the area as the vehicle flung back and lit on fire.

Meanwhile, Nico was shooting down any rebel he could lock on with his sniper rifle. His and Marcus rocket men were destroying parked cars one by one, getting the enemy troopers out of cover. Bullets were zipping back and forth across the area. One of the rocket men with Nico spotted a Scorpion tank coming from the far north. "We got an enemy tank, far north." The demolitionist said. Nico turned on his COM link and warned Marcus.

*"Marcus, we got a tank."*

Marcus replied. *"I see that. It's too far; we don't have a positive shot. Wait for it to come closer and take it out before it sees us."*

Nico crouched down and reloaded his sniper rifle. He listened to the screams of pain…agony…suffering echo across the war zone. This is probably the first major battle between the UNSC marines and the UNSC rebels in the civil war. The Spartan sniper stayed crouched down, this brought back horrible, horrible memories of battles with the Covenant….No matter what war, short or long, a soldier faces…it will always be hell.

****

A ready and alert Jonnie listened to the intensive gunfire from the battle. Deep down, he was disappointed that he couldn't fight with the others. Assault missions were his favorite. But he kept his disappointment to himself and scanned the streets. Jonnie was next to a three way intersection, a straight going street ahead of him, and two roads to his right and left. He remained patient and kept himself ready.

The gunfire slowed down….then a tank shell flew right between the two buildings Nico and Marcus were in and hit a large building ahead of Jonnie. A chunk of the building collapsed to the ground and pieces flew everywhere. Jonnie and the other marines with him stepped back a few feet, none of the rubble landed nowhere near them. Then two rockets were fired from the buildings Jonnie guarded. The red Spartan said to himself in his head. _"Must have been an enemy tank….I hope the others are alright."_

****

The enemy Scorpion tank exploded and stopped in its tracks. One of the marines with Marcus informed all his comrades in his COM link. *"Hostile tank is down."*

Marcus knew he had to end this battle before it ends itself…He put down his big weapon and rocket shells and then said to the two rocket men. "I'm going into the base. Here's my rocket launcher and rocket ammo." The Spartan took out his M6C magnum and checked the magazine to see if it's loaded. One of the demolitionists said to Marcus.

"Don't you think you should bring that rocket launcher with you? How are going to get in there?"

"A weapon that heavy will slow me down." Marcus replied. "And most buildings like that one have back doors…I'll inform everyone that I armed the bomb and then I'll return here, alright?"

The marine understood, Marcus jolted out the room and went down the stairs to a first floor room window. He scanned the area. No one was around. He jumped out the window. It was only a ten foot fall. He landed on his feet and sprinted to the back of the hardware store.

Three UNSC rebels were there; Marcus quickly shot and killed them with his handgun. He noticed a few handy weapons the dead rebels had. There was one assault rifle, a SMG, and a shotgun. He strapped the shotgun on his back and duel wielded his magnum and the SMG. Then he searched the corpse's pockets for ammo. After collecting a decent amount of ammo for shotgun and SMG, he dumped all three of the dead bodies in a nearby dumpster, which will hopefully keep the enemies outside from knowing he is inside their base. He spotted the back entrance and opened the door slowly; he went inside and closed it.

Nobody was inside; Marcus went down a hallway that leads to a row of aisles. He went down an aisle and looked for a spot to plant the bomb. As the Spartan went down another passageway, he realized that most of the tools here were gone. _"What would the rebels want with the stuff in this hardware store?"_Marcus asked himself.

Putting questions aside, he found a good spot in the middle of a horizontal aisle. The Spartan took out the bomb; he kneeled down and started setting up the explosive. He opened the cover and set it for three minutes and pressed an orange button. The main screen of the device said "BOMB ARMED, BOMB PLANTED!" It was now time to get going. Marcus noticed a shopping kart; he rolled it over the bomb to cover it from being seen….hopefully.

Marcus dashed down an aisle. As he ran, two rebels jump out of the end of the aisle and open fire. Marcus dived to the floor and fired his SMG and magnum at them. The enemies were hit and tumbled down. The red Spartan got up and noticed five rebels at the far back; he hid behind a wall end of an aisle for cover. The rebels seen him and fired across the aisle. Marcus fired back.

****

A savage firefight had begun for Jonnie minutes ago; two of his men were killed. The Spartan ran and hid behind a pickup truck beside a marine. "How did they get around us?!" the marine asked.

"I don't know!" Jonnie replied aloud over the MA5B fire from the rebels and marines. "There trying to flank us! How many of them are there?!"

"I think six! Could be just a squad, I'm not sure!" The marine replied. There enemy, the rebels were behind abandon cars parked next to buildings across the street from them. Jonnie and his comrades kept suppressing fire at them.

****

After killing three of the UNSC rebels, Marcus toss aside his SMG, It was out of ammo. He reloaded his magnum, and then heard fast paced footsteps. A rebel was closing in on him. Marcus turned around and a rebel shoved him out of his cover and on to the ground. He was exposed to another rebel down the aisle. The rebel across the aisle fired his MA5B at Marcus; the rebel who shoved him quickly drew out a pistol. Marcus thought fast and took out his swapped shotgun…he was duel wielding his magnum and a shotgun. Marcus fired the shotgun at the M6D pistol wielding rebel, and fired his magnum four times at the rebel down the aisle. Both of the rebels were down and dead. He quickly went behind cover to recharge his shields. The Spartan took a deep breath and realized his shield was flashing red, and he had a MA5B bullet in his shoulder….A little bit of blood dripped down, the Spartan fought the pain. Marcus knew Victoria or another medic would take care of that.

His shield regenerated, Marcus reloaded his handgun and strapped the shotgun on his back. The Spartan jolted to the back of the hardware store. Suddenly, Marcus paused, he noticed the rebel with the MA5B he just killed had something…There was two rolled up scrolls on the ground that fell out of the dead soldiers backpack. The red Spartan was curious on what it could be; he took the scrolls and quickly went through the back entrance, and then ran back to the secured buildings without incident.

Before he went to the first floor window he looked back for any enemies…nothing. Then he ran up the wall and grabbed the ledge of the window and moved in.

****

Aaron/Victoria's group lost eight troops so far. The battle was starting get intense, very intense. Victoria threw a grenade that blew up two rebels. Aaron shot down three enemies. One of the marines did a headshot on a rebel. The battle went on until "BOOOM!!!!!" The hardware store collapsed loudly until the only thing remaining was rubble and large pieces of the roof. That "MLB.M4 bomb" did its stuff…..and did a damn good job at it.

"Damn it!! Retreat comrades retreat!!" A frustrated UNSC rebel hollered.

"Run, go, go, go!!!" Another rebel soldier said. "Cover fire!!!"

About fourteen rebels retreated and jolted out of the area. They fired aggressively at the warehouse as they ran. A marine next to Aaron fired back. The Spartan quickly grabbed him back to cover. He turned on his COM link and said calmly to him and the others. *"Everyone, just let them go. Let's not put our lives at risk. We won this battle anyway."* They watched the UNSC rebels retreat until they were out of sight.

****

Jonnie and the marines checked each corpse. They killed all the attacking enemy troops, right before the loud explosion and Aaron's COM link message informing they won. In his mind, Jonnie said. _"Bout time Marcus decided to go into that base._" Then his and the marines COM links turned on. It was Aaron again.

*"Everyone, meet me by the hardware store, now."* Jonnie and the other soldiers climbed up the leveled building to their comrades.

****

Near the destroyed hardware store, the Spartans formed up. They explained to each other their events. Aaron sent the UNSC marines to secure the rebel's weapons, corpses, anti-aircraft guns, and to retrieve the KIA (killed in action) marines….He then asked Jonnie and Nico.

"Nico, Jonnie, what were the casualties?" Jonnie replied first.

"I lost two of my men sir."

The Spartan sniper then said. "One of the demolitionists was killed."

Aaron looked down a few seconds and then faced the two Spartans and said. "I lost eight, so adding them all up, we lost eleven." They were all silent….until Victoria informed.

"Not to mention we have three wounded, but two other medics are taking care of them right now."

"Good" Aaron said. "I already called in a recovery team. So let's hold position here and wait."

Then Victoria noticed Marcus wound and said in alert. "Marcus, your shoulder is bleeding."

"I took a bullet" Marcus replied to her. "Just patch it up. The Genesis medical facility will take care of it."

While Victoria aided Marcus, Jonnie said to her. "Geez Victoria, you worry about others a bit too much." She looked directly at Jonnie, with one of her eyebrows raised, and said to him in an unusual tone.

"Is that a problem?"

Jonnie was a little spooked by the uprising aggressive sound in her voice, but he didn't show it….Usually Victoria is soft spoken, unless they were in battle. He said back to her.

"Well, uh, it's not like I have a problem with that. I'm just saying…." Victoria cracked a slight smile and silenced Jonnie.

"Heh, I guess you're right, but it's kind of a habit."

"Quiet" Aaron interrupted calmly. "Commander James is on my COM link." As the other Spartans did their business, Nico observed the area. The battlefield was a huge mess. Abandoned vehicles flipped over or flipped on the sides, some of the cars were on fire or smoking, blood was all over the parking area, and dead bodies of rebels everywhere…Another tragic scene of war…..

Then Aaron looked at the other Spartans, Nico gave direct attention to him and was ready for any orders. Aaron informed. "Our field commander defeated the rebels at the east side of town. He said they retreated. More UNSC marines are arriving to make sure the whole town is secured." The Spartans then looked up at the ocean blue sky and watched a squad of UNSC Pelican's flyby. Two of them landed near the hardware store. It was the recovery team. A minute later a marine approached the group of Spartans and said to Aaron.

"Sir, the Red Army commander in chief told me to tell you that you guys are to report back to Genesis. He wants to see you guys tomorrow at the second tower, third floor meeting room in 1300 hours."

Then Aaron asked the first class private ranked marine. "Do you happen to know why tomorrow?"

"Um, due to an attack at a UNSC base at the north where he had a meeting, he won't be back at Genesis until tomorrow, that's all I know sir."

Aaron faced his squad and said. "Ok let's return to base Spartans." The Red Army Spartans made their way to a Pelican, a UNSC pilot awaited them. Marcus and Nico watched medics and soldiers run out another Pelican ship. The pilot kindly saluted, Aaron saluted back. They went inside; eventually the UNSC aircraft took off.

****

In the sky now, the Spartans sat quietly. Silence took over for a little while. All them at lost for words after what they did….Then Marcus said. "It's been awhile we seen the commander in chief."

"I know right?" Jonnie said. "Ever since the campaign on the Covenant was over we had General Havoc give us orders."

Victoria took her glance off her assault rifle and said. "Must be important"

"Yeah, it must be…." Jonnie said. Then Marcus took out the two scrolls he found. He then faced Aaron and said to him.

"Sir, while I was in the base, I found this." He then handed the rolled up scrolls to Aaron. The squad leader opened them up and examined them. It appeared to be a blueprint of something. The prints had a picture of a mechanical arm; there was a list of supplies and materials. Aaron was unsure what to say, and then Marcus asked him.

"What is it sir?"

"I'm not sure" Aaron replied. "It's a blueprint to build something….but for what?"


	6. Chapter 6: Gyro

**Chapter 6: Gyro**

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, second tower, third floor meeting room**

**July, 24, 2552**

**12:58pm**

Jonnie arrived to the meeting were his squad was waiting for him. In the wide room, Aaron, Nico, Victoria, and Marcus sat with their Spartan helmets off their heads and placed on the round table next to them. After Jonnie took a seat and removed his helmet, the commander in chief opened the door. The Spartans got up from their seats and respectfully saluted their leader.

There were three leaders in planet Orta's military, a leader/commander in chief of the Blue Army, a leader and a command group for Orta's UNSC military, and a leader for the Red Army. Of course, Randy Ed Domeman is the leader and commander in chief of the Red army, also secondary leader of planet Orta's UNSC military since the civil war began. Genesis military complex leaders, Leon and Genesis command group, are the TRUE leaders of Orta's military. Little is known about them; they're very mysterious and keep their military plans completely secret. Leon has made few appearances away from the base. Even Randy hardly knows about him or his group. They have been in charge of Orta's UNSC military and doing operations against the Covenant for many years.

Randy saluted back to his comrades and said to them. "Long time no see squad seven." The Spartans sat down and gave full attention to the commander. Randy grabbed a remote from a table next to a wall and clicked it. A blue light from a monitor on the ceiling glowed and a big wide screen appeared on the wall.

The commander cleared his throat and said. "I'll be briefing you guys on another mission, but first…I want to review on yesterday's infiltration." Randy looked at Aaron with a disappointed look on his face. Aaron wondered what he did wrong but remained positive. The commander in chief faced Aaron and said to him. "Field commander James talked to one of the marines that were with your squad in the assault. According to what James told me, you didn't chase down the rebels that were retreating at the end of the battle. Why didn't you?"

"Well" Aaron replied. "I wasn't really sure if it was necessary to put my troops at risk over retreating hostiles."

The commander then said with his voice raised. "What the hell you mean by I wasn't really sure?! Do you realize the opportunity you missed?!" Aaron, in thought of the question, calmly answered.

"I don't know sir."

Randy walked over to Aaron and faced him. "You could have ordered your men to chase down the rebels and capture them! We could have questioned them and find out why there fighting us! Perhaps we could have found a way of ending this war!! We're dealing with an enemy we don't know much about!" The commander stared at Aaron with an angered look. Nico thought this was something Randy shouldn't get angry over; he spoke up with his calm and quiet voice.

"Sir, ever since this war began, the UNSC rebels NEVER surrendered to us. They fight, die, or retreat. That's what they do….."

Randy glared at Nico. It was silent for a few seconds….Then he looked back at Aaron and sighed, he then said to him more calmed. "Remember this Aaron. As a leader, you should watch your commands, because if you say a wrong one….then something really bad could happen to you, or your comrades." Aaron glanced down the ground in shame. Randy walked back to the hologram screen. He then pressed another button on the remote; the map of a town surrounded by a few hills and countryside appeared.

Jonnie observed the map in awe, and said his mind. _"That town, could it really be?"_ Aaron regained focus and put his shame behind. Commander Randy faced the Spartans and said.

"As you can see on this screen, this is the area you'll be sent to. There is a rebel base somewhere in this town, what I want you guys to do are infiltrate the enemy base, and gather any information you can find there. Do NOT destroy their base. According to what my Intel told me, there's a lab in their as well…."

Then Jonnie raised his hand, the Red Army leader let him speak. "Sir, what is this town called?" Randy wondered why the Spartan would ask something like that, but he answered calmly.

"I believe its Gyro Village." The commander in chief zoomed in on the hologram map to give the red Spartans a better look. Jonnie was a little shocked. In his mind he said.

"_Gyro Village, that was where…_."

Jonnie put the distracting thought behind him and focused on the briefing. Randy cleared his throat again and said. "You guys are going with seven other ODST units that are assigned to join you on this mission." After Nico heard that, he said in his head.

"_The orbital drop shock troopers huh, this should be interesting."_

"You and the orbital drop shock troopers will drop from a Pelican northeast away from the town. There will be a few hills there for cover when you land." Randy said informally. "All of you will report to landing zone twelve, Pelican forty eight at the landing arena. The ODST units are waiting for you, this mission briefing is now over. Move out."

The Spartans got up, saluted, and said "yes sir" and then left the meeting room. Randy watched them leave as they put on their helmets, he said in his mind. "_I sure hope we find a way to end this war soon. Dr Halsey's Spartans are still fighting the Covenant and we need to help them."_

****

The red armored Spartans walked down the balcony that had a stairway ahead that lead to the landing areas. Aaron was quiet and in thought, until Victoria said. "Aaron…So you messed up, it's not a big deal."

Then Marcus said, enforcing Victoria's encouragement to the squad leader. "Yeah, mistakes happen….."

Aaron looked at Victoria and Marcus with a quick glance, and then he looked ahead and said. "That's NOT what bothers me. It's just what Randy last said to me. That has been on my mind….what if I make a wrong command that cost all of our lives? I feel as though I'm not good enough as a leader...I have that thought sometimes."

Nico stopped, the others halted. The Spartan faced Aaron and said to him. "Sir, we face a mistake, we learn from that mistake. Don't give up just because someone can do something better than you…You keep trying. If you remember, we were told that once." The Spartan sniper then turned away from the squad leader and continued walking, and then the other Spartans followed. Aaron thought about what Nico just said….Victoria then noticed Jonnie acting unusual as well. Like Aaron, Jonnie was in deep thought and was facing down. She wondered what was wrong with him.

The Spartan squad arrived to their designated air vehicle. Seven orbital drop shock troopers were sitting inside the Pelican. One of them jumped off the ship and said to the Spartans. "I see you all made it. Your weapons and ammo are inside, get aboard."

They all boarded the UNSC Pelican. The Spartans checked their ammo and weapons. Nico had a sniper rifle, Victoria and Jonnie had assault rifles, and Aaron had a battle rifle. Marcus did NOT have a rocket launcher; instead he had a battle rifle for this mission. They all had handguns for sidearms. The ODST troops had MA5B's or BR55's. After checking their equipment, Aaron turned on his COM link and informed the pilot. *"All right were good."*

Eventually the Pelican took off and left the base. Moments later they were in the air; Aaron looked at yet another tactical map that one of the ODST troopers gave to him while they took off. Three other shock troopers were having a conversation, the red Spartans sat silently. Marcus examined his new weapon, he said to himself.

"Hmm, it's been awhile that I used one of these."

Aaron overheard what Marcus said. The squad leader said to him. "Marcus. If you have any problems with that rifle just tell me. I know everything about a BR55." The Spartan demolitionist nodded back to him. Victoria was pleased to see Aaron turning back to his normal self, but Jonnie was still very quiet. She then said to Jonnie.

"Hey Jonnie, what's up with you?"

He glanced at her and said in a quiet voice. "I'm alright…." Jonnie looked back down. Victoria then said in her mind.

"_Geez, since when did Jonnie started acting like Nico?" _ Victoria put the thought aside and left Jonnie alone. She and the others will be dropping from the Pelican around thirty more minutes, and she wanted to be as ready as her comrades.

****

"All right everyone, prepare to drop!" An ODST unit called out. The orbital drop shock troopers and the Spartans strapped on their parachutes. They all double checked everything they got. The Spartans had to wear their own "special manufactured" parachutes due to the fact that their red MJOLNIR armor weighs almost a thousand pounds.

Aaron faced the ODST's and said. "Shock troopers, me and the Spartans will drop first, alright?" The well trained and experienced marines agreed. All of their COM links turned on, it was the Pelican pilot.

*"The door is going to open; I'll tell you when to drop."*

As the door opened, the Spartans stood near the ledge. The pilot then called out. *"Drop, now!"* The Spartans jumped out the airship and fell from the grayish cloudy sky. Jonnie observed the town as he headed down towards the ground, then his COM link turned on.

*"Spartans, deploy parachutes!"* All of them drew out their parachutes. A minute later they landed safely on the grassy ground. The Spartans watched the orbital drop shock troopers come down from the sky. Aaron informed the ODST units.

*"My squad made contact to the ground. ODST units, you guys land, go to cover, and wait for us to regroup over there."*

*"Roger that."* An ODST replied on COM link. Nico and Marcus kept watch of the town distantly ahead. Nothing was there so far. The Spartans were behind a wide hill for cover. It appeared to be a successful and quiet landing.

"I guess we weren't noticed." Marcus informed "I don't see any commotion."

"Don't see anything either." Nico said as well. Then Aaron spoke out.

"Ok, they made landfall, let's go." The other Spartans followed Aaron to the ODST landing. They were not that far away. An ODST waved his hand once for the cautious Spartans to notice them. The two groups met up.

One of the shock troopers then asked. "So what's the plan?" The Red Army Spartan squad leader observed the small town carefully and said.

"We need to take a closer look, let's move up with extreme caution." The others followed Aaron across the grassy plains…..They found themselves at the northern entrance of the town. The group stood next to a wall of a building. Aaron peeked from the corner. There was just a roadway and a few abandoned vehicles. This area was evacuated as well….The squad leader faced Jonnie and whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"Jonnie, were going to split up. You, Victoria, and four of the ODST units will go to the west side of the town. From here till then you're in command of that squad. Report anything on your COM link."

This was Jonnies first time leading a squad. He wasn't sure about this. The Spartan said back to Aaron. "Why do I have to lead a squad?"

"Because we all have lead a squad at least once throughout the Covenant war." Aaron replied with little irritation by the fact Jonnie questioned orders. "But you haven't leaded a squad at all." Then Marcus said quietly to the squad leader.

"Sir, exactly why are you making all of us lead squads of troops anyway?"

He replied. "Because, I might not be with you guys someday, and someone else must lead squad seven…." Silence took over for a few seconds…then Aaron continued. "Anyway, let's move." Jonnie, Victoria, and the four ODST troopers went west. Aaron and the others went down the roadway.

****

Scouting the western area, Jonnie and his selected troops moved from various spots, from buildings to cars, they made their way across the forward going street. Jonnie looked hard and carefully around the town, he was in search for something else in this neighborhood….The Spartan examined the addresses of each house…he found what he was looking for, House 1630. The Spartan paused; his comrades halted and looked at Jonnie. In his mind, the temporarily squad leader said in amazement. "_This is the house and it's still here. This is where…"_ Breaking Jonnies thought, one of the shock troopers asked.

"Uh, something wrong, sir?"

Before Jonnie could say anything, gunfire went off at a very far distance. Before Jonnie and his company could react, all there COM links clicked on, it was Aaron. *"Jonnies squad, we have contact with enemy units!"*

*"Alright, were on our way."* Jonnie said in alert. They started jolting to the gunfire sound, Jonnie knew he had to help his comrades first and focus on his find later. Aaron gave one last message on COM link.

*"Marcus will throw a flare so you guys will get an idea where we are. You better hurry up because…we have some unexpected company….and there not UNSC rebels or Spartans either."*

****

A pack of UNSC rebels and three mysterious figures guiding them stormed in on Aaron's squad. The enemies ran out a small wide building that had a big wall surrounding the whole structure (except the front entrance). Marcus dove to a truck on its side, beside Aaron and an ODST unit; he then took out a flare and threw it in the sky. Nico was behind a concrete stairway shooting down rebels with his sniper rifle. Marcus then fired his battle rifle aggressively at the enemy. Bullets zipped side to side as the intensity of battle begun. An ODST threw a grenade. Making a "BOOM!!!" sound, a rebel's body soared through the air. Then Jonnies group fired from the west and kept moving up and then hid to cover. Jonnie spotted one of the unknown enemies….

The "mystery soldier" was dressed completely dark gray, a little bulky, and had a dark blue armored vest covering around the chest and upper back. The eyes were glowing light green, and its arms were mechanical, but yet it still looked human….it was armed with a MA5B assault rifle. Jonnie went back to cover, he turned on his COM link.

*"Ok. Who's that dark gray soldier?"*

Aaron replied. *"I'm not sure. Four of them came out of that building ahead of us a few minutes ago. We managed to take down one of them…whatever it is, keep your eye on them, they're hard to kill."*

"Over there!!" one of Jonnies soldiers called out. The Spartan looked out of his cover (which was a car) and watched the dark gray enemy aim at him and fired a grenade right out of the palm of its mechanical hand, making a loud and fierce "Pff!!" sound.

Jonnie jolted away from the car to a parked van. The grenade accurately hit the vehicle, it exploded to pieces. The Spartan informed Aaron. *"Aaron, watch out for those dark gray things, they can fire grenades pretty damn accurately!"* He looked out of the corner and fired at the mechanical soldier. Jonnie hit the enemy eight times, the soldier didn't go down. The Spartan had to reload his assault rifle. Victoria started firing at the dark gray trooper. It took twelve bullets to take it down. That's one of them, two to go.

Then another dark gray soldier and four rebels started attacking Jonnies group. The two rival squads keep firing at each other. The powerful roar of gunfire echoed across the area for about two minutes, until the battle came to an end when Aaron's group attacked the enemy squad from behind. They were all eliminated. Then Aaron's group met up with Jonnies group. The squad leader glanced at one of the dead dark gray soldiers and then said.

"Hmm, what are these things?"

Marcus looked at the corpse and wondered. "Could it even possibly be cyborg?"

"Perhaps…" Aaron said while looking at the building the rebels emerged. "The enemies came from that building over there, which must be there base." Then all of sudden, "BOOM!!!!" Something fired from afar. An abandoned car near the group was hit; it did two front flips in the air, and smashed to the ground. The group looked from the road Jonnies squad originally came from. There was a rebel Scorpion tank from a far distance.

Marcus then said aloud. "Move to cover!" Not knowing where to go, they ran away from the tank.

"Move where?!" Jonnie yelled while running for his life.

The best and closest cover was the enemy base; by the time they made it to any other cover, they would probably be dead. Aaron thought fast and made his decision. "We have no choice, were going into the enemy base, it's the only way!" Another tank shell zipped by them and hit a distant building. Very unsure about Aaron's idea, but yet desperate to get away from the enemy tank, they kept running and following him. All of them alert and ready, they went around the wall that covered the building. No enemies where around. They thought they were safe behind the steel wall, until the tank fired again and blew a chunk of the wall off. Jonnie and Victoria were a few feet away from it; they were both knocked down to the ground by the impact, but not dead.

"In the base, now!" Aaron hollered out. The squad leader and the others went inside the front entrance. They were too concentrated on getting inside; Victoria and Jonnie were left behind. The two Spartans recovered from the blast and charged to the front entrance, but then the tank fired and blown away a huge piece off the steel wall, it rammed right into the front door, the entrance was blocked.

Jonnie thought quickly and said to Victoria. "This way, this way" They went around the corner of the left side of the building. The selected passage they went into was narrow with little space. Jonnie and Victoria were now safe. The two Spartans walked a few feet away from the corner, Jonnie paused and turned on his COM link, Victoria stopped walking as well.

*"Aaron, are you and the others alright...do you copy?"*

The Spartan squad leader gave a few pants of breath and whispered. "*Yeah, were fine, what happened to you and Victoria? Are you two alright?"*

*"The front entrance got blocked, were away from the tank at the left side of this building"* Jonnie replied, giving a moment of silence after a close encounter with death…he then said. *"So what should we do? That tank is probably next to the front entrance and waiting for us to come out."*

The squad leader replied calmly. *"See if you can find another way inside. If not, then hold on and wait for us, were going to search the base."*

*"Yes sir, will do."*

Jonnie checked the magazine of his MA5B, Victoria did as well. He signaled to the female Spartan to follow. They went down the narrow alley all the way to the back area of the enemy base. Jonnie peeked out of the corner. No one was there.

The "backyard" of the base was one big parking lot. There was Warthog's parked in organized order and a few sandbag pits scattered throughout the area. Jonnie and Victoria covered each other's back and stepped out of the alleyway, scanning their surroundings. They spotted a back entrance to the base. The two red Spartans cautiously walked to the door. They were a short distance to it, and then three rebels opened the door to the entrance. The enemies looked at them; one of them jumped in surprise, the other two drew out their battle rifles and fired. Jonnie dove to the ground, Victoria crouched down, and they fired back.

After a series of gunshots, all three of the rebels fell to the concrete ground, but then one of the rebels on the ground then tossed a grenade at the female Spartan. Jonnie quickly dove sideways, Victoria tried to evade as well but she slipped from empty MA5B bullet cartages on the ground. Jonnie noticed her on the ground.

"Victoria! Watch out!" he said in alert as he ran to her. The grenade landed four feet away from Victoria. Jonnie strapped his weapon on his back. He quickly grabbed her and ran to a parked Warthog for cover, just in case of any other surprises. The grenade exploded, Jonnie took most of the blast. He put aside the pain and ran to the left side of the vehicle. Then Jonnie lied Victoria down. His shield was nearly drained. Victoria got up and checked her assault rifle. It was still in her hand.

"You alright Jonnie" Victoria asked.

"Yeah…I'm alright" The Spartan replied.

Then an unfamiliar male voice came from the back entrance. "Red army Spartan sixty three, Is that you?!" Jonnie peeked around the Warthog thinking it was one of his comrades at first. But it wasn't, it was a Blue Army Spartan standing near the back entrance….Jonnie and Victoria aimed their assault rifles at him. The blue Spartan tossed aside his BR55 rifle and said to Jonnie.

"Hold on. You don't recognize me by my voice? I can recognize your voice anywhere…." Jonnie thought for a few seconds, and then realized who it was…he almost widen his eyes….he finally found the person he searched for. The red Spartan said to the enemy Spartan.

"Jacob….brother"

Victoria was surprised. Keeping her concentration on the blue Spartan, she asked Jonnie. "That Blue Army Spartan is your brother?"

"Yes…." Jonnie replied to her in a low tone. Still keeping focus, Victoria's eyes widen a little.

****

Inside the enemy base, using his sidearm pistol, Nico shot a UNSC rebel soldier twice in the chest and one shot to the head. The enemy was down. "Well, that's the last of them." Marcus said after taking observation of the wide hall. Then one the ODST units asked silently.

"So, Where to now?"

Aaron looked around the hall. He noticed a hidden passageway. The squad leader signaled to the others to follow. There was a door at the end of the narrow passage. Aaron peeked through the door window, nothing. Cautiously he opened the door; there was a stairway that went down. Aaron signaled to his comrades. One by one they went down the steps. Then Aaron found five rebels at the bottom waiting for them. In a heartbeat….gunfire exploded powerfully and loudly across the area.

Aaron fired and ran to cover, managing to suppress the enemies. His troops ran down the steps, fired, and hid behind stacks of metal boxes nearby. Nico glanced at the containers, they looked familiar. _"These boxes… they were in those trucks back at Harmon town."_ Whatever the UNSC rebels wanted from that hardware store in Harmon, they brought it here….Eventually, after taking out the five rebels, more of the enemy troopers started coming from afar. They started opening fire, Aaron's squad fired back.

****

"I'm kind of impressed that you still remember my name, little brother." Jacob said to Jonnie.

"Ever since the terrible things you did I would never forget." Jonnie said back to the Blue Army Spartan.

Victoria didn't know what to say or do. Is the blue Spartan possibly going to surrender? She noticed how calm Jonnies brother Jacob was. He didn't seem to care if two assault rifles were pointed at him. Jacob then said back to Jonnie. "What I did? Hell. What about you?" Victoria looked at Jonnie. What exactly did he do?

Jonnie remained silent for a few seconds and then said to the enemy Spartan. "Look. I don't want to kill you, just surrender and we can end this."

Jacob gave a short chuckle, then a wicked smile, and said to him. "You want to end something peacefully? Ha! I knew you were going to be a coward. That's why you're going to die…just like mommy did…."

"Shut up!" Jonnie roared out as Jacob sprinted into action. He crouched and ran to the Warthog that the two red Spartans were behind, Victoria and Jonnie fired at him. The blue Spartan was so fast that he dodged both of their bullets, they had to reload. Jacob placed both of his hands on the front hood of the vehicle and did a front flip. He used both of his legs to kick Jonnie in the chest and make him fall to the ground. Then Jacob quickly disarmed Victoria's MA5B out of her hands. He fiercely elbowed her in the face, grabbed her head, and then slammed her head on the Warthog five times. Jonnie got up and picked up the blue Spartan and threw him all the way into a Warthog on the right side of the parking lot.

Jonnie checked Victoria; he can tell she was knocked out, not dead. He said with concern in his mind.

"_Victoria…._"

The red Spartan kept concentration on his brother as he walked out to the middle of the parking area WITHOUT his assault rifle. Jonnie knew between there range and Jacob's incredible speed, his rifle wouldn't do much. But he still had his sidearm just in case. This was now going to be hand to hand combat. The weather started getting very cloudy, it started to rain. Jacob recovered and walked out to the open space and said to Jonnie. "I knew I should have killed you the last time we met…Your mother had to be killed either way Jonnie…She knew a lot….a lot about all this…."

Jonnie then asked in wonder. "Huh…what do you mean, about what?"

"It doesn't matter anymore" Jacob replied "What matters now is that I kill you." Jacob and Jonnie then charged towards each other and started delivering punches; the fight began while the innocent rain kept coming down.

****

After getting rid of a lot of enemy troops Aaron's squad kept moving. Down the unknown area they found a wide metal door, it was locked. Beside the door was a small device with a card swipe. "How are we going to get past this?" one of the shock troopers asked. Squad leader Aaron observed the door and the card swipe, he then thought of an idea. Facing Marcus, he said.

"Marcus, you and four of the ODST units go back and search the corpses, and see if you can find a card for this door."

The Spartan demolitionist said "yes sir". He and four volunteers explored the area. Aaron had his head down in thought. He then said to Nico.

"I hope Jonnie and Victoria are ok."

Nico glanced at Aaron momentarily and said with his deep calm voice. "Don't worry, I'm sure there alright."

Five minutes have passed. It was silent until footsteps were heard. Aaron's group alerted themselves. It was Marcus, him and his comrades approached Aaron. One of the shock troopers handed Aaron a green card and said to him. "I found this sir."

Aaron glanced at the card and walked to the door, then swiped the card across the device. The metal door started to rise up. The squad was ready and alert as the door opened.

It was a wide arena that had many computers, crates, wide screens, and a lot of advanced tools. It was a lab. Aaron's company looked around; Nico noticed a dead rebel's corpse on a chair with a table beside it. The Spartan was alert at first, but then he recognized that the soldier was dead. The dead rebel's arms were chopped off. Marcus then approached the corpse, and then he observed what was on the table. There were two high tech mechanical arms along with a few other metal parts and tools. Also there was a blueprint similar to the one that was found back at Harmon town yesterday. Then Marcus called out to the others.

"Everyone over here, we just found something pretty interesting here!" Eventually all the comrades came to Nico and Marcus and viewed what they found. Aaron observed the blueprint on the table.

Moments later…the Spartan squad leader said. "The UNSC rebels…there building those cyborg things we fought outside, it appears that…" Aaron paused and read through a few sentences of the document, and then continued. "Those things are called Recon cyborgs, RE-borgs for short...from what this says, RE-borgs are special units built to fight with the UNSC rebels and Blue Army Spartans."

Marcus then said in wonder. "Perhaps that's why they took the supplies from that hardware complex in Harmon town; they needed the tools to build these things."

"So maybe…" Aaron said in deep thought. "That's why there invading civilian areas like here and Harmon….because they can't afford other things. They need to invade civilian areas and take supplies from those places to keep their military alive….what I'm wondering about is how they got a hold of UNSC weapons."

****

Jacob punched Jonnie in the right side of his face. Jonnie shook off the shock, and then he dodged another punch from Jacob and fiercely punched the blue Spartan in the gut. Jacob stepped back a few feet and delivered a hard kick. Jonnie fell to the ground and quickly got back up; Jacob jolted and tackled the red Spartan back down. The blue Spartan powerfully punched the red Spartan in the head multiple times. Jonnie managed to lift Jacob off of him, the blue Spartan got back on his feet. He stomped on the red Spartan two times; Jonnie grabbed his foot, got up, and then spun Jacob in the air and threw him right into the window of a Warthog.

Jacob got out of the vehicle, Jonnie ran up and grabbed his throat with his left hand, and used his right hand to punch him twice in the face. Jacob punched Jonnie in the throat, the red Spartan stepped away, and then Jacob grabbed him by his red chest armor and tossed him into the side front of a Warthog beside him. This caused Jonnie to flip on top of the front hood of the vehicle and roll across, then fall to the ground head first.

Jonnie got up, his vision blurred a few times, and some drops of blood were smeared on his yellowish orange visor of his helmet. He gave a few exhausted breaths, his shield was low. Then Jacob ran around the Warthog and threw a punch. Jonnie blocked it with his right forearm and punched him successfully. Jacob grabbed Jonnies left arm and did an over the shoulder throw, launching him in the air and then slam to the concrete ground.

Jacobs attacks were more powerful then Jonnies. The red Spartan was starting to lose conscious….but he was determined to win. _"No. Not after killing my mother…." _Jonnie said in his mind.

Quickly getting up and ignoring the pain, Jonnie punched his brother repetitively in the face. Jacob was surprised; he thought the battle was won. The red Spartan kept dodging his brother's attacks and continued hitting him. Then he grabbed Jacob's head and pinned him against a parked Warthog, and then very forcefully he punched him across the visor of his blue helmet. Jacob's visor shattered off his helmet, exposing his two light green eyes.

Jonnie took out his magnum and aimed it at his exposed face. Jacob couldn't go on, blood dripped from his helmet, he look like he was going to faint. Then Jonnie paused, he thought about his mother…..Jonnie looked directly to Jacob and offered him mercy. "Just surrender. I don't want to kill my own brother. I….I can still forgive you for murdering my step mother."

Jacob was silent, he knew that Jonnie won, he refused defeat from his younger brother….Jacob shook his head and took Jonnie by surprise by shoving him away from him. The blue Spartan took out a silver long tube like device out of his ammo pouch and said to Jonnie. "Brother…..defeat is something I refuse…." He flipped open the cap of the tube. Jonnie realized what it was, it was an explosive. He started to run from him. Then Jacob pressed the red button.

A very loud "BOOM!!!!" was made. The blast of the device plus two Warthogs next to it created a big explosion. Jonnies body flew from the impact, and then he crashed head first to the ground. He stayed on the concrete ground listening to the ringing in his ears; his vision was starting to faint. The red Spartans last sight was seeing Victoria get up, rubbing on her head. She looked at the explosion, and then she spotted Jonnie. Victoria started running to him for aid; she turned on her COM link. Then Jonnies vision went completely black….


	7. Chapter 7: Secret

**Chapter 7: Secret**

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, tower one, second floor medical center, room eighteen**

**July, 24, 2552**

**4:27pm**

Jonnies eyes slowly opened, he stared at a light above him. The Spartan realized he was lying down on something, but still not sure what's going on. _"Is this it….am I dead" _The confused Red Army Spartan said in his mind. He slowly started to regain conscious. Sounds of footsteps were going by him; he now realized he was in a room on a bed. People passed by outside the open door of the room, Jonnie watched them.

Eventually he sat up, his head hurt badly and his body felt terrible. Jonnie then looked around; there were medical supplies and equipment all around the room. He finally returned to his senses and figured out that he was in a hospital room. Jonnie also had his Spartan armor on; his helmet was on a table near him, it was clean and not smeared with blood. The wounded red Spartan lied down on the bed, watching what's going on outside his room. Minutes later Victoria entered the room, she had her Spartan helmet in her right hand. She glanced at Jonnie as she approached him and sat on a chair next to his bed.

Jonnie finally remembered the encounter with his brother, and the mission. His eyes widen and then asked Victoria. "Victoria. Where am I? What happened on the mission?! Is…is everyone alright?"

Then Victoria slightly raised her hand to silence Jonnie, and then said to him. "I was just about to explain." She placed her hand on Jonnies left shoulder for a moment and let go. Victoria started giving out an explanation informally. "Your back here at Genesis in a medical center. Two of our shock troopers got wounded, but they're going to be alright."

"Hmm" Was Jonnies simple response, he was still thinking about the past events in the mission. Victoria was silent for a few seconds, she then continued.

"I took care of you while Aaron's troops secured the rebel base back at Gyro. We were able to call UNSC forces for aid, and to secure the perimeter."

Then Jonnie remembered something. "But next to the base, that enemy tank, who got rid of that?"

"The reinforcements destroyed it with ease." Victoria answered calmly. The two Spartans went silent for a moment. Then Jonnie turned his head away from Victoria and asked.

"Tell me, is my brother really dead?"

She replied in a calm tone. "Um…..yes." Silence went by again. Then eventually Victoria said to him. "You never told me you had a brother, why didn't you tell me? And judging by how you were acting back on the mission, you were looking for something. Jonnie…what's going on?" Jonnie was quiet for a moment, he then asked her.

"First of all, when are we going to see the rest of the squad?"

Victoria blinked twice, and then replied. "Well, were going to check up on you in one thousand seven hundred hours. Why?"

"Because I have a lot of things to explain to you and the others…." Jonnie said and went silent. Then Victoria remembered something.

"Oh yeah…Jonnie, I have to get going now. I have to report to the commander in chief about you and the others who were wounded in battle."

"Oh, alright" The wounded Spartan said quietly. Victoria got up from the chair and grabbed her red Spartan helmet. Then Jonnie said. "Victoria?"

She paused and turned towards him. "Yeah" The Spartan simply said to him. Jonnie reached out his left arm and firmly grasped Victoria's right hand.

"Thanks for being there for me when I needed you the most. Throughout the Covenant war, and this war…..I'll see you later alright." Victoria nodded to Jonnie and gave a smile that quickly disappeared. He let go of Victoria's hand. She walked out of the room, Jonnie watched her. He felt like this was the last time she was going to be with him. The secret Jonnie is going to say to her and to his other Spartan comrades later on….they might not trust him ever again.

****

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, Red army commander's dorm**

**4:47pm**

Inside the Red Army commander in chiefs very own dorm, Commander Randy stood next to his desk reading the mission summary. He had a chair next to the desk but he preferred to stand most of the time. After looking through the casualty report he was pleased that no one was killed, but he was a little surprised to see Jonnie, the Spartan as one of the wounded. Also still puzzled by the recent fact that the UNSC rebels created cyborgs from their own dead troops to fight against the Red Army, from what Aaron told him. So many thoughts and questions were running in Randy's mind, so much.

Then his transmitter on his desk beeped repeatedly. Randy sat on his chair and pressed the "Accept trans" button. He took a deep breath to ease himself. A rectangle screen came down from the ceiling and blinked on and revealed who it was….Commander Randy was surprised to see it was Dr. Halsey. Someone he worked with for a long time, but yet he still didn't look at her as a friend, just a trusted ally.

*"Commander Randy, it's been a while."* Dr. Halsey said to the commander in a calm tone. To Randy, she hasn't really changed much. Like she said, it has been quite some time since they spoke or seen each other.

*"Yeah it has been a long time."* The Red Army leader said back to her, he looked down for a second and continued. *"So how's YOUR Spartans doing on the war effort?*

She sighed and then replied in a low tone. *"Good and bad, we had our victories, but we had more defeats and many lives lost."*

*"Hmm…."* Randy then gave a slight frown as he looked down again in thought. A spark of memories of his time during Orta's role in the Covenant war went by his mind. If the civil war on his planet didn't happen, project VIOLET would have still been in action. Silence took over, until Dr. Halsey said.

*"I want to talk to you about something….about a special and secret operation I think one of your Spartans could accomplish along with the assistance of one of MY Spartans."*

This made the commander wonder. *"With one of your Spartans, what kind of mission could this be?"* Randy asked her.

*"A mission that we BOTH need to accomplish."* Dr. Halsey replied. *"Do you remember the Blue Army commander in chief?"*

*"Yes, you mean Belgium Grandoff?"* Randy replied without having to remember. The Blue Army commander in chief, Belgium, was once a close friend to Randy. He never slightly expected the Blue Army leader to betray him. They worked together on operations against the Covenant long ago, leading both of their Spartans to battle….but not anymore. Randy was both angry and depressed by Belgium's betrayal, and knew he now had to kill him if the opportunity came up.

Dr. Halsey nodded positively. *"Precisely, he needs to be terminated."*

*"Indeed…"* Commander Randy said. *"But he could be anywhere. So what does this have to do with you?"*

Dr Halsey replied. *"Allow me to explain….My tension on eliminating the Blue Army commander was because of the weapon manufacture crash of 2548. I'm sure you remember that event."*

*"Um, yeah"* the Red Army commander replied. *"That was when planet Reach SOMEHOW lost about fifty five percent of their weapons, right?"* He wasn't sure if he should of said that to her. Dr Halsey nodded and said.

*"I sent a few spies from Reach to investigate on Belgium ever since the civil war on your planet began. Eventually they found out that he was the one who lead the weapon crash of forty eight. In other words, Commander Belgium STOLE weapons from Reach military complex. This created problems for MY Spartans and the UNSC on Reach. Of course, we recovered quickly. He is still a treat of corrupting other UNSC organizations on other planets."*

Randy gave slight tension as he said. *"So….that's how the Blue Army and the UNSC rebels got all those weapons, to fight against MY army, damn him to hell!"* This started to make the Red Army commander a little angry; he did have a slight temper that went on sometimes.

Then Dr. Halsey calmed him down. *"Take it easy, I want him to pay for this as well."*

*"How did he get away with that"* Randy asked her. She replied on the transmission.

*"From what my people told me…he has friends in high places, let's just say that. The good news is that we now know where he is, and it's at an area that one of MY Spartans is familiar with. The bad news, he is heavily guarded."*

*"Hmm, an area that one of your Spartans knows about?"* Randy said, unsure what else to say.

Dr. Halsey then asked him. *"Remember the Covenant ship that crash landed at Si-Ran city and I sent a squad to investigate three months ago?"* Randy nodded, he remembered that event. That was back then when the Covenant ATTEMPTED to fight planet Orta. Eventually the Covenant lost interest on the planet after a series of defeats. Also during that time, UNSC marines, and the Red and Blue armies were fighting Covenant groups on the WESTERN continents. Reach was generous enough to send some troops to the east of planet Orta; just to be sure Covenant didn't invade there. That was around the time Reach and Genesis USED to do joint operations all the time.

Planet Orta had five large continents around the globe. The central continent, were the location of Genesis is at, and the civil war is taking place so far. Then there were the areas west and east of the center continent, the western and eastern continents. Si-Ran city was located at the eastern continents, it was a huge metropolis. Then there was the arctic north and south continents.

*"The head of that squad I sent was one of my Spartans."* Dr. Halsey continued. *"They were at that city for two weeks."*

Then the commander asked. *"So who's this Spartan that you speak of?"*

She replied informally. *"A skilled sniper….her name is Linda. I want her to work with one of YOUR Spartans on this mission."* Randy asked another question.

*"Only two Spartans for this mission, Why that?"*

*"Because I want this to be a sniper operation, they'll assassinate the Blue Army commander and get out of there…so, which one of your Spartans will work with Linda?"* Dr. Halsey asked.

Commander Randy replied to her. *"I think I know the guy for the job…So what's the plan?"* She was already ahead of him on a plan.

*"Alright, this is what where going to do…."*

****

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, tower one, second floor medical center, room eighteen**

**5:00pm**

Aaron, Nico, Victoria, and Marcus arrived to the hospital room were wounded Jonnie laid in agony. They all stood beside Jonnies bed. The wounded red Spartan glanced at them with a nervous look, he then sat up. Squad leader Aaron then said to Jonnie. "So, Victoria told us you had something to tell us. What is it?" Jonnie tried to figure out what to say, it took him a few seconds. He finally said.

"Well, I have a lot to explain so get comfortable. It has something to do with my encounter at Gyro, and about the beginning of this war.…Well to start things off I ran into a blue Spartan that I found out that he was my bro-"

Then Aaron interrupted him. "Victoria already explained about your brother Jacob as well. You don't have to go through that part."

"Hmm" Jonnie got to the point. "Yeah my brother, Jacob, was a Spartan in the Blue Army. When we went to Gyro village I knew that I would probably run into him. I was also looking for the house that Jacob and his father lived at. For an odd reason I thought he would be there."

Then Victoria said. "So that's why you were staring at that one house in that residential neighborhood...but you told me that you were born on planet Jeff-re, so how did your brother end up on planet Orta?"

Jonnie took a moment to think back to his childhood, which would both answer the female Spartans question and have him tell his confession. He then quietly said. "Before I was sent to the UNSC my parents got divorced. My mom took me, and my dad took my brother. Later on my dad sent us a letter telling me how things were going and that he moved to planet Orta….Me and my mother still lived on Jeff-re."

Nico was impressed by Jonnies sharp memory. He couldn't remember his childhood past. Going through Spartan training and discipline wiped out most of the Spartans memories from long ago….it was nothing more than mysterious quiet whispers in their minds.

"A year later my mom..." Jonnie gave a second of silence before he continued. "died from a deadly disease. I was sitting next to her in a hospital when this happened. So another woman named Kristin adopted me."

Then Marcus raised one of his eyebrows in question and asked the red Spartan. "Wait. From what you said earlier, what does this have to do with you and the beginning of the war?"

Jonnie replied. "You'll understand, just let me explain. So another year later my new mother admitted that she was chosen to be an associate specialist in the project VIOLET program. She told me she had orders from the UNSC at Genesis to have me drafted to the Red Army. So, many years later right BEFORE I was assigned in this squad, squad seven…I found something that I regretted…."

Then Jonnie was silent for a few seconds. His comrades could just stand and listen, wondering what he was trying to tell them. The wounded Spartan continued explaining the memory.

"One late night after a late meeting, I head back to the barracks. But instead of taking the same long route, I went a different path that I was BARELY familiar with that no one else went. When I was about to go around a corner I heard a conversation coming from the other side. I figured it was late at night and hardly anybody should be out, from instinct I thought something was up. I stood behind the wall and listened to what they were saying. They discussed about getting the blue Spartans and the rebel marines out of the military complex. Then I heard Jacob's voice as well. I peeked out to see if it was really my brother. One of them noticed me, and then a group of people came behind me and grabbed me. I didn't have my Spartan armor on and they all had assault weapons and shotguns, so I cooperated. I was brought towards my brother…."

There was a short pause. He then went on. "Jacob told me that I know about what there up to, at first they were going to kill me, but my brother thought I could be used as an advantage for his and the Blue Army's escape. He told me if I don't do what he says then he will kill my step mother, I have no idea how he figured out about Kristin, but he did, and knows everything about her. So…I had no choice."

Jonnie paused and looked down for a few seconds.

"I did what my brother requested. On July, 18, 2552, while you guys were asleep, I set a time bomb on a security wall, and then I went back to the barracks. The explosion went off and I knew everything went to plan. Even though when we all took out the rebel settlement at Harmon town, Kristin was killed while with Randy, from what I was informed on COM channel later on. Randy told me a blue Spartan killed her...I knew it was Jacob, and he got away with it. I don't know what drove him to kill her. My brother last told me she knew a lot about something, that's all I know."

Jonnies comrades just stared at him. Then eventually he looked at the Spartans and finally had the courage to speak the truth. "I'M the REASON that the blue Spartans escaped Genesis."

Aaron, Marcus, Victoria, and even Nico were shocked and lost for words. Jonnie then said with trembling lips "Watching my birth mother die was hard enough for me. I didn't want to have Kristin die for my situation." Then Aaron, Jonnies own comrade, punched him across the face but with barely HALF of full force. Jonnie flung back down on his bed, two of his teeth popped out. Then Aaron said in a slight angered tone.

"Jonnie…I can't believe you made someone take advantage of you so easily, just like that." Then the wounded Spartan put his face against his pillow, he couldn't even look at Aaron.

"The last time I checked you were a SPARTAN." Aaron said fiercely. "You're a disgrace to the Red Army, you're pathetic!" Silence went on for a few seconds. Then Aaron sighed and informed the wounded Spartan in a more calm tone. "I got orders from the commander to pick your ass up tomorrow at seven hundred hours." The squad leader then stormed out of the room.

Then Victoria quietly murmured to Jonnie. "I'm disappointed Jonnie…." She then walked out of the hospital room.

"I can't believe you, seriously." Marcus said as he joined his comrades. Nico stared at Jonnie for a few seconds, and then he shook his head in disappointment and left the room. Jonnie was ashamed of himself.

"_Aaron's right, I'm pathetic"_ The shamed Spartan said in his mind. Jonnie felt shame and regret stab him hard. He hated himself for what he had done...He's probably the reason why the red and blue Spartans are now fighting each other.


	8. Chapter 8: Unexpected ally

**Chapter 8: Unexpected ally**

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, tower one, second floor medical center, room eighteen**

**July, 25, 2552**

**6:54am**

The morning sun started to rise up; Jonnie sat up and watched the scenery from the open curtain window at the left side of his bed. He noticed that his pain was gone and he was back to normal. The Spartan got up from the bed and did a few stretches….the events from yesterday still bother him. He tried to put it behind, but the thoughts wouldn't go away.

Then Aaron in his red Spartan armor, walked in the room. Jonnie put on his Spartan helmet, stood strait, and looked presentable. The squad leader looked at him momentarily and said in a straight tone. "At ease…"

Jonnie stood his ground, watching Aaron look out the window in thought. Then Jonnie said, trying to keep mind off of what happened yesterday. "I'm….ready for orders, sir." Without saying anything back, the squad leader kept his glance at the window, and then he finally said.

"I thought about yesterday." He turned to face Jonnie and continued. "You still fight alongside with the Red Army, even after what you did. You do, right?"

Jonnie loyally replied to his leader. "Yes sir….This is my squad; I would never leave for anything, sir." Then Aaron walked up and patted his left hand on Jonnies right shoulder, giving a quick smile. He then turned around and started walking silently out the room while saying to Jonnie.

"Let's go." Jonnie followed Aaron out of the room and down a hallway, no one else was there. He then said to the squad leader.

"Wait.…" Aaron paused, and then Jonnie asked him. "You're not mad at me? You didn't tell Commander Randy?"

The squad leader replied a little aggressively. "I'm still mad at you a little, and don't forget that...And no…I did NOT tell the commander." Jonnie was surprised, he then simply asked.

"You didn't?"

"You're still my comrade." Aaron said back. "I still trust you."

Aaron started walking again, Jonnie followed him. While walking, the squad leader looked at Jonnie and informed him. "Our squad, a bunch of troops, and scientist are going back to Gyro to investigate the base. Nico is going to Si-Ran city at the east for a few days."

"Why is Nico going all the way there?" Jonnie asked. "We never fought rebels at the western or eastern continents so far."

Aaron replied. "Randy said it was a SECRET mission, that's all he told me." The two red Spartans kept walking all the way to the landing docks to meet up with the others, while one of their comrades, Nico, was about to embark on an important operation that will decide the future of the civil war.

****

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, main tower, rooftop helipad landing zone**

**7:30am**

Nico went up the stairway that led to the rooftop. Randy ordered him to go to a specific landing area, the roof on the tallest tower in the complex, the main tower. He also told Nico he was going to a UNSC base at the eastern lands of planet Orta; he knew what his mission was….The red armored Spartan opened and shut the door that lead outside, and walked across the roof to the lone Pelican secured on the landing pad. The pilot next to the ship approached Nico and said to him.

"Just get inside the ship; your weapons are in there." The pilot went inside the cockpit of the airship and opened the back door, Nico went inside. He found an unfamiliar figure sitting at the far right corner.

That unknown person was a GREEN MJOLNIR armored Spartan sitting there quietly, equipped with a S2 AM sniper rifle and a M6D pistol. Commander Randy already told Nico he was working with a different Spartan so it was no surprise to him. The green Spartan still made Nico wonder though. Red Army Spartan seventy eight kept glancing a few times at his new ally while grabbing his sniper rifle, M6D pistol, and ammo. He approached the green Spartan and asked, finally saying something. "So…your one of Dr. Halsey's Spartans" The green Spartan nodded to him. Nico sat next to the Spartan and respectfully introduced himself, trying to get comfortable with working with the stranger. "Hello…I'm Nico, Red Army Spartan seventy eight." The green Spartan glanced at him, and then said in a calm and low tone.

"I'm Linda…." After that was said, silence completely took over. Like Nico, her voice was quiet and calm. That fact almost surprised the red Spartan, almost. Without saying a word, they both sat quietly as the Pelican airship went up in the overcast sky.

****

Thirty eight minutes pasted, the two Spartans still didn't say a word. Nico wanted to ask Linda on how the Covenant war is going. Are they winning, are they losing? But to him, it was an unnecessary question to ask to another war veteran. Who knows what she's been through, so much was lost….so many brave people died in the Covenant war, and still are. But still, Nico wanted to know about Dr. Halsey's Spartans, he thought it was best to get to know Linda better, perhaps get a few answers. Nico asked her, surprisingly attempting to start a conversation, which he very rarely does.

"So you're a sniper too?"

She glanced at him and replied. "Yes…." Nico looked away from her for a moment and then continued.

"What squad are you in?"

"I work in various squads" Linda replied. "Most missions I went in are with a certain squad leader."

"Certain squad leader, who's that" The Red Army Spartan asked, keeping the conversation alive.

"I'm NOT authorized to tell you much about him." The green Spartan paused momentarily and continued on. "What I can tell you is that a lot of people call him the Master Chief."

"_The Master Chief"_ The name went by Nico's mind. He thought about that name, it sounded a little familiar. Years ago, the red Spartan overheard a conversation about him from a marine who was from planet Reach. From what Nico can remember, the Master Chief was a VERY successful Spartan….Then suddenly, Linda asked Nico.

"How experienced are you with a S2 AM?" Nico took a quick glance at his sniper rifle. He tried his best to think back to his past. He couldn't.

"Um, since I first fired one, years ago." Nico simply said. "I can't remember." Linda was satisfied with that fact, but still a little uncertain about him. But she gave trust and was pleased to work with a sniper with good experience as her….Well, hopefully the red Spartan knew what he was doing.

A few silent moments later, the two Spartans got comfortable, but not too relaxed. The flight was going to be long; it was going to take around nine or ten hours. They where only going to make one stop to re-fuel the Pelican.

Linda and Nico waited patiently, they had a few conversations from here and there during their time. Nico started to get more eased with working with an unfamiliar Spartan. He thought this was going to be an interesting mission indeed. Linda thought the same thing. Then they eventually fell asleep in a sat up position….But still ready for any unexpected situations.

****

Five hours later the Pelican made landing on a UNSC secured island. The Spartans woke up as the ship dropped gently to the ground. The pilot then turned on his COM link and said to the two Spartans. *"Were staying here for about five minutes or so. Feel free to get out and stretch, but stay near the ship."*

The back hatch of the Pelican opened, Nico and Linda left their sniper rifles in the UNSC ship, and they took their handguns with them, keeping them secured in their holsters. The pilot went to a fuel crew, and then they went to the Pelican and started the re-fueling progress. Linda observed the area; Nico stared at the ocean that was far ahead of him. The weather was not as overcast as it was at Genesis.

Linda approached Nico and asked him. "Do you happen to know what this island is?" The red Spartan remembered a world map of Orta that he looked at, he replied.

"I think this is Jima Island."

Jima Island is a UNSC base hosted by Genesis military complex. It's a fuel station for UNSC aircrafts and war boats. And it's one of the four UNSC secured islands between the central continent and the east.

The two Spartans watched three Pelicans take off in the sky. Then Linda said to Nico. "Most fuel stations I've seen were in space." The red Spartan thought about what Linda just said, to his guess, Dr. Halsey's Spartans were fighting Covenant in space most of the time. His squad and the Red and Blue Army Spartans fought on mostly land back in the Covenant war.

Then the pilot of their ship shouted to the two Spartans. "The Pelican is ready to go, let's move!" Without wasting time, Nico and Linda made sure they still had everything with them and went to the Pelican airship. They both boarded, and then the pilot went in as well. A minute later the Pelican took off and continued traveling to its destination.

****

**Planet Orta, Gyro village, house 1630**

**12:43pm**

Jonnie forcefully booted open the front door of house 1630, Jacob's old residence. The red Spartan had permission from Aaron to go here, alone. Jonnie pointed forward his MA5B assault rifle, ready to fire.

The inside of the house looked lifeless, dust was almost everywhere, cobwebs took up the corners of the room Jonnie was in. He walked slowly across the room and into a hallway that had other rooms at both sides. Jonnie started investigating the entire house. He was searching for any possible clues on why Jacob betrayed the UNSC or any information on his father….Jonnies main reason to search this house is just because it was his fathers and brothers house, his family.

Five minutes later the red Spartan searched the whole residence, he couldn't find anything. He looked to see if the one leveled house had a basement, there was nothing. "_What happened to my father?"_ That sudden question went by Jonnies mind. He thought about it, to his guess, his dad was evacuated to the WESTERN continents of planet Orta like all the other civilians (This worldwide evacuation happened because of the Covenant war conflicts and the civil war). Jonnie wasn't sure; he was disappointed that he couldn't find anything about his dad or Jacob. There was nothing in the house, just empty.

Jonnie went back outside and walked to his parked warthog. He took one last look at Jacob's house. The Red Army Spartan started the vehicle and drove back to the captured rebel base where his comrades where.

****

A male UNSC scientist observed the RE-borg corpse on a wide table. Aaron, Marcus, and Victoria watched him. Then Jonnie approached them, his Spartan comrades looked at him for a few seconds, then they kept their attention to the corpse. Marcus observed the cyborg, and then he asked the scientist. "So what are we dealing with Professor Donor?"

The scientist, Donor replied to the Spartan.

"Hmm, this body is a mixture of mechanical parts, human organs, and human blood. Who ever built these things sure have some advanced technology on their hands. Of course, in our days, building these types of cyborgs is very difficult." The Spartans were silent and in thought. Donor kept examining the cyborg. Then a familiar marine walked over to Aaron, he saluted and reported.

"Sir, we just finished cleaning up the enemy corpses."

"Good work Richard." The Spartan squad leader said. "Put them in the ship and remain on standby."

"Yes sir."

Richard went back to a secured Pelican. Donor kept examining the corpse while he said to the Spartans. "I'm going to have this one and the other three cyborgs taken to the lab for dissection and further analysis." The scientist then faced Aaron and continued. "I'll send Commander Randy the results when my team and I are finished right away."

Then Aaron informed the scientist. "Alright, I will report back to the Commander about your research." The red Spartan then faced his squad and said. "Let's all start to pack up and head back home."

****

**Planet Orta, eastern continents, on route to command post W14**

**5:31pm**

*"Where minutes away from the landing zone, so heads up."* The pilot said to the two Spartans on his COM link. After Nico got that message he started to call Commander Randy on his COM channel. He was ordered to inform him when they got there.

*"Commander Randy, this is red Spartan seventy eight, were about to land."*

Randy replied. *"Alright, Sergeant major Toni will be waiting for you to arrive. He will give further orders."*

Nico explained to Linda what to do as the ship started to make landfall. The Pelican landed and the back door opened. Linda and Nico walked out of the ship with their weapons holstered. There was a large two floored UNSC base ahead of them.

A marine approached Nico and said. "Nico, glad you can make it, I'm Sergeant major Toni. The commander in chief gave me orders to guide you on your operation tomorrow. But for the rest of the day I want you and…" Toni looked at the green Spartan.

"Linda…." Nico informed the sergeant major.

Judging by her name, Toni was a little surprised to find out that she's a female Spartan; most Spartans he met were male. The sergeant major cleared his throat and continued. "And Linda to go to the shooting range to get some practice…If you happen to need ammo, just go to the armory in the base. Then I want you two to report to the barracks at two thousand hours."

Nico and Linda saluted and said "yes sir". Toni insisted to guide them to the shooting range.

****

Three marines were at the shooting range. One sergeant that fired a M6C magnum, and two privates, one fired a BR55 rifle, the other had a MA5B. Linda and Nico watched them as they walked to a section of the shooting area that was built for sniper practice. They both went down into a concrete bunker and settled their S2 AM sniper rifles on the grass green ground. There was a control panel next to Nico. He pushed the "Set targets" button; ten human shaped targets appeared from the ground. The targets came from different distances far off. Nico glanced at the human like targets and said to Linda.

"You take five, and I take five?"

Linda nodded. "Sure…." The two Spartans began shooting at their targets. The three marines watched.

"Whoa, Spartans, here?" the battle rifle wielding marine said surprised.

The marine with the assault rifle then said. "I've seen the red one's before, but not any green ones."

The sergeant glanced at the Spartans, and then yelled to his comrades. "Yeah well, no biggie, keep your damn eyes on those targets!"

"Yes sir!" the two marines said and kept their focus.

With doing one reload in the four round firing weapon, Nico took down all the targets first, Linda finished off her last two targets, doing only one reload as well. Taking down the last target, the sound off the accurate 14.5mm bullet gave a sharp and fierce echo; the two Spartans did NOT miss a single shot. Linda looked at Nico's targets. Three of the targets at afar were headshots; the other ones that were closer were chest shots. Then Linda gave Nico criticism….

"Hmm, you're above average. Your shots should have been placed more wisely." Nico glanced at her; this was Nico's first time getting criticized about his sniping in a long time. He then said to Linda.

"Explain…."

"You shoot a bit too quickly, you should make sure that you were relaxed and checked the wind conditions. You do anticipate your shots, right?"

"Yes." Nico replied calmly. "So what about my shooting"

Linda replied to him. "You did headshots on the targets that are very far off, and shots in the chest area at closer targets. Depending on the situation, I suggest shooting a target that's at a less far distance in the head. And shoot a target that's more further off in the chest."

The red Spartan thought about it, he never realized that mistake. "Oh. I see…." was his only reply. Linda's constructive criticism helped Nico. He was glad to find out more about his weaknesses. Even though he somewhat didn't like being criticized deep down. But manages to put it behind him and keep going.

****

A few hours later Nico and Linda went to the barracks. They approached the end of the hallway, the two Spartans paused. There was one passage for the ladies and one passage for the men. Then Nico took off his Spartan helmet, he thought it would be a good idea to show his face since they both never reveled their identities. He then said to Linda. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Then Linda took off her helmet and reviled herself, Nico knew she was thinking the same thing. She had green eyes, close cropped red hair, and her skin was pale. "Yes sir…." She then went to the ladies barracks.

Nico was surprised to hear one of Dr. Halsey's Spartans actually say "sir" to him. The red Spartan wondered why he's always a leader in sniper missions; he didn't think of himself as one. Nico watched Linda walk away, and then went to his barrack dorm as well. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for them.


	9. Chapter 9: Assassinate

**Chapter 9: Assassinate**

**Planet Orta, eastern continents, on route to Si-Ran city**

**July, 26, 2552**

**8:07am**

It was the next day, the sun shined on top of a flying UNSC Pelican in the cloudy blue sky. Sitting inside the airship, Nico turned on his COM channel and informed Commander Randy. *"Sir, me and Linda just got on a Pelican and left the command post a few minutes ago, were on our way to Si-Ran city."*

*"Ok."* Randy replied. *"Sergeant major Toni will be your first in command throughout this operation. His Pelican will land at a different location in the city. His ship is going to be your getaway after you kill Commander Belgium. He should be calling you any minute now…good luck you two."* Linda sat quietly as Nico double checked his equipment. He had his S2 AM sniper rifle and M6D pistol; also plenty of ammo, Linda had the same equipment as well.

Four minutes passed, and then finally Toni came on Nico and Linda's COM links. *"This is Sergeant major Toni, are you two there?"*

*"COM links are working properly sir."* Nico replied.

*"Good…alright, this is what you two are going to do."* The high ranked marine said. *"Since the Blue Army disabled there COM systems, Belgium is going personally to the abandoned city mayor's complex at one thousand hours. I think it recently became a base for the rebels. He's going in there to brief a Blue Army field commander about an all out invasion on all of OUR CP's on the western coastline. You two are going to stop him from going into that meeting. He will be in a troop transport Warthog, so watch for it. Do I make myself clear?"*

Linda and Nico both said "yes sir". The western coastline was the west end of the eastern continents, a shoreline of Orta's ocean. There are many UNSC command posts by that area.

*"Sir, how do you know about all this?"* The red Spartan asked Toni.

Toni then calmly said to Nico's comrade. *"Linda, hold on for a few seconds. You'll be back online, don't worry."* The sergeant turned OFF his communication with Linda, he then replied to Nico in a low tone.

*"I forgot to tell you about this. We sent a skilled team of spies to the Blue Army. They had been there for quite awhile. We only tell this to certain people, so let's keep this between you and me."*

Then Toni restored Linda's COM link, he informed her and Nico. *"Anyway, don't forget the maps of the city I gave you two earlier today. My ship will land at Bill's junkyard waiting for you two. Good luck."*

Toni's signal was gone. Nico and Linda took out their maps and looked for the city mayor's complex and their "getaway Pelican's" location. To Nico, the map of Si-Ran city was very hard to understand, names of buildings covered a lot of the visual of the lanes and streets, and some routes went in various directions, it was a mess to him. He never realized how big this city really was. Linda quickly found the two area's easily and marked them using a pen. She glanced at the red Spartan. Linda could tell Nico was having a hard time figuring it out; she slightly sighed and then said to him. "Let me mark them down Nico…."

****

**Planet Orta, Genesis military complex, Red army commander's dorm**

**8:28am**

Professor Donor approached Randy, who of course, stood up instead of sitting down, the scientist handed the commander a document. It was about the results of the Recon cyborg research. Randy read through it. This made the commander wonder and somewhat worried. He faced Donor and asked. "So according to this, these things are dead rebel soldiers that were modified into cyborgs. And you guys don't know what kind of technology was put into these people? You're saying it's some sort of alien machinery?"

Donor replied. "Yes, they were once human….When we dissected them we found unknown mechanical implants that replaced the chest organs like the breast bones, the heart, and so on. Our tech experts couldn't identify what the metal implants were. The metal arms are an unknown technology as well. The only thing we know about the arms is that they can insert a grenade in the palm of their hands and fire them."

Commander Randy's mind was filled with questions. Fighting the anxiety in his head, he took a deep breath and said to Donor. "Thank you professor Donor, I appreciate it."

"No problem sir." The scientist then left the room. A lone Randy placed his right hand on his head in thought.

"_Now they're using cyborgs…what is it the Blue Army wants from us, the UNSC rebels want from us? Why are they determined to take over this planet?" _

****

**Planet Orta, eastern continents, Si-Ran city**

**8:44am**

Nico and Linda strapped their sniper rifles on their backs and took out their M6D pistols. The Pelican landed and the back hatch opened. Nico peeked out to see if the area was clear, it was. He signaled to Linda to follow, they both jumped out the ship ready and alert. The UNSC Pelican then took off in the sky; it was now just Linda and Nico.

They scanned the area, it was a park, there were mostly trees, and a large lake at their far left. Then Linda calmly said to the red Spartan. "We go this way, follow me."

Nico followed her, they moved from tree to tree all the way to the lake. Linda spotted the passage that lead out of the park. She signaled to Nico to follow. They emerged out of the park and into the city. Linda and Nico moved forward to hide behind an abandoned parked van, observing their surroundings. The perimeter was silent, the only thing in the streets were just a few civilian vehicles parked at the sides. It was too quiet; the two Spartans raised their guard. Then Linda said quietly, recognizing their location.

"This must be Brook Street…." Nico kept observing the area, and then Linda continued. "Nico, get out your sniper rifle and scope out what's ahead of us at the west." He put his handgun back in his holster and drew out his rifle. Nico observed ahead slowly….he then informed her.

"Were clear, there's nothing ahead."

Then Linda thought of a formation, she said to Nico. "I want you to be the observer as we move. I'll take point." She signaled to him to follow her. They moved down the street, staying close to cover. Arriving at an intersection they then turned right. Linda paused, then Nico stopped and observed what was ahead, there was nothing.

"Keep going forward and observing." Linda's excellent sense of direction impressed Nico. She knew most of this area like if she were here yesterday.

Three minutes later they turned left at an intersection. They moved down the empty street quickly. Then they turned right at a T-section. As they did as series of turns and routes, Nico wondered why the big city seemed abandoned; he thought there would be UNSC rebels by now. Si-Ran city just looked so lifeless. The Spartan also wondered what happened here. Did this area get evacuated as well? Did the UNSC rebels overthrow the city? Putting questions aside, Nico kept focus on the objective.

****

After even more twist and turns, Linda signaled to the red Spartan to move to cover and halt, they hid behind a large pillar next to a tower. Then she said to Nico. "This area should be good, Nico, keep me covered for a minute." The green Spartan took out her map and double checked to see if this was the spot she was looking for. Nico took out his M6D and kept watch, scanning the perimeter. Linda nodded in approval, she then said to Nico.

"Listen. Where going to split up. See those two towers at that T-section ahead of us?" She pointed at the distant two towers that were far separated from each other.

"Yeah" Nico replied.

"We should have a clear sight of the mayor's complex. You will go into the right tower; I'll go to the left one." Then Linda looked at the structures for a few seconds, and then she gave Nico a command. "Before we do that, check what's ahead and then observe the towers and tell me how many floors are there."

Nico nodded. He checked the area carefully using the scope of his rifle, and then counted the rows of windows on both buildings. "Both towers are eleven floors high." The red Spartan calmly informed.

"Ok, we will go TEN levels high up the towers" Linda said. "Inform me when you get there. Let's move out." They both cautiously went to their destined spot. The two Spartans checked the rooftops around them, and each other's back. Eventually, Nico and Linda made it to the two buildings. Nobody but them was there still, or so it seemed.

****

The red Spartan cautiously and quietly went up the emergency stairway. He kept himself alert and ready, armed with his handgun. After scanning many rooms, he finally made it to the tenth floor. Observing the hallway, he could tell this was once a hotel. It didn't take him long to find the right room with a window that showed him the best view of the mayors complex.

Nico scanned the distant scenery outside the window. Below at a far distance showed him a large green field, and a short wide walkway that started from a street, and ended at the complex forward ahead. There were a few rebels and many anti-aircraft and tank guns. Still, Nico had a good clear shot.

The red Spartan then closed the door in the room he was in, double checked the whole small area, and turned on his COM link. *"Linda, this is Nico. Have you arrived yet?"*

*"Just found a good spot."* Linda replied.

Then Nico asked her. *"Did you make sure the room was secured?"*

*"Yes, just did that."* The green Spartan replied, thinking Nico was stating the obvious. But she knew her comrade wanted to make sure they were secure.

*"Alright"* the red Spartan replied. *"The Blue Army commander will arrive at one thousand hours. Now we just wait…."*

Nico and Linda took out their sniper rifles. The Spartans got situated. Nico grabbed a small table that he found and set it near the window, then he settled his S2 AM sniper rifle on it. Linda placed a desk near her window and settled down her sniper rifle as well. They did this to avoid having the barrels of their weapons sticking out the window, which decreases the chances of them being seen….They waited patiently for their target to arrive.

****

It was three minutes before ten o clock AM. *"It's almost time, Linda, get ready."* Nico said calmly. Then the green Spartan asked.

*"So, who's taking the shot on the target?"*

*"We BOTH will."* Nico replied to Linda informally. He wanted to make damn sure that the traitor didn't get back up....

Then the two Spartans heard the sound of vehicles. Nico and Linda observed the mayors complex using the scopes of their sniper rifles. A troop transport Warthog and three M12 LRV Warthogs following it came from the right and stopped next to the walkway to the complex. Moments later a rebel Scorpion tank parked behind the pack of vehicles. The UNSC rebels in the Warthogs stepped out and grabbed their assault rifles. Keeping his eye on the commotion at the transport hog, Nico wondered._ "Something's wrong, this is too easy. Randy told me this area would be heavily guarded."_

Then moments later, Nico noticed something in the sky. Six Hornets were in the air patrolling the area. For a moment, the red Spartan thought they could possibly be comrades, but they were circling the mayor's complex, obviously they weren't. He couldn't believe the rebels got a hold of Hornets. The Red Army Spartan never had seen UNSC rebels piloting those before.

The UNSC Hornet is a single piloted small sized assault aircraft that's quick and deadly. It has two jump seats, which holds a crew of three all together. And it has two class machine guns and twin lock on rocket systems.

*"Linda, do you see this?"*

*"Yeah"* Linda replied to the Red Army Spartan *"Looks like we're going to have to make this a little quick. We'll both shoot the commander in his back, which should finish him."*

Nico and Linda stayed calm and perfectly still, they focused on their target. The Blue Army commander in chief, Belgium came out of the Warthog, armed with a battle rifle. He did look similar to Randy, except he had dark hair and blue eyes. Two MA5B armed RE-borgs got out of the vehicle and followed the enemy commander. Then to Nico's surprise, a Blue Army Spartan wielding a BR55 rifle stepped out the transport hog and joined the group. The six other rebels followed as well.

The Blue Army commander and his company started moving down the short walkway. Nico and Linda kept their sniper scopes locked on to him. The green armored Spartan gave the mark to fire.*"Three…two….one, fire."*

In an instant, Linda and Nico fired at the same time. A loud echoing "Balmm!!!" sound pierced the quiet sky. Two 14.5mm armor piercing bullets hit Commander Belgium in his upper back. His comrades stepped back and started looking around pointing their guns at various directions. The commander fell to the ground…..but a moment later he got back up on his feet.

"What?" Nico said in complete surprise. Then the blue Spartan with Belgium pointed at Linda and Nico, the two snipers were spotted. _"How did those shots not kill him?" _was the only thought in the red Spartans mind.

Nico realized they were detected, but he still kept his concentration on Belgium. Linda was now under fire by the distant Blue Army commander and a few other rebels, she took a few bullets, forcing her to cover. The blue Spartan and a few of his comrades fired at Nico. The red Spartan wasn't hit yet, this was his chance. He calmed himself, then locked on to Belgium, and fired.

Setting off more noise, the bullet zipped through the air, and hit the Blue Army commander in the head. Blood sprayed on the ground, and Belgium fell down, he didn't get up. The Blue Army commander in chief was dead….Time to get the hell out of here.

Nico kept his head down and turned on his COM link. *"Linda, the target is dead, let's get out of here!"*

*"Ok, let's move now. Those Hornets are on their way. I'll meet you outside!"* Linda replied a little louder than usual. Nico strapped his sniper rifle on his back and took out his M6D pistol. He immediately ran out the room and down the stairway. Linda did the same thing. Now they have to escape Si-Ran city.

****

Nico peeked out the door and checked the area, no enemies were there. He went out the tower. "Nico, follow me." Linda said to the red Spartan as she approached him quickly. They jolted down a street and into a narrow alleyway between two buildings. Nico looked up and noticed three enemy Hornets fly right past them. He took his worry off the aircrafts and kept his focus on running.

Two minutes later, Linda and Nico found themselves at another street. Linda observed the area and figured out a route. Her and the red Spartan ran in another alleyway for a minute and turned left down a street. Then seconds later, they noticed three enemy Mongooses quickly turned from a T-section ahead of them at their far right, and then charged towards them.

The Mongoose is a UNSC vehicle that looks a lot like a four wheeler (ATV) except tougher. It has no weapons, but it's very fast, quicker than a warthog. It holds a crew of two. One is the driver, and the other one holds on to the back grip of the vehicle using whatever weapon they have to fire.

Two of the Mongoose passengers fired their MA5B assault rifles at the Spartans. Nico and Linda hid behind a parked car. They fired their handguns accurately and wisely, there sharp marksmanship took both of the two enemy troops out of their ATV's. Then the remaining Mongoose maneuvered away from the two disabled vehicles. The rebel on the Mongoose fired his rocket launcher at Nico and Linda. They both got away from the car and quickly rolled their bodies to dodge the blast.

A loud "Boom!!!" was made and the car was blown to pieces. The two Spartans avoided the hit. Linda got back up on her feet first and shot down the driver of the ATV with her M6D pistol. Nico got up and shot the rocket wielding rebel in the chest three times, he was down. They both reloaded their handguns. The green Spartan faced Nico while they both kept moving; she pointed at one of the Mongooses and said.

"In that Mongoose, I'll drive."

Linda stepped in the driver's seat. Nico held on the back grip using his left arm and used his right arm to wield his M6D. It didn't take Linda long to figure out how to operate the Mongoose. She did a U-turn and head towards the road the rebels showed up and continued straight. Down the street ahead of the Spartan trio, four rebel Hornets flew towards them, firing their rockets. Linda thought fast and turned right to another road, avoiding the rockets. They went into a large and wide tunnel, keeping them safe from the aircrafts. Linda then said to Nico. "Looks like we're going to have to take a long way, Nico, call Toni and tell him are situation."

Nico nodded and turned on his COM link. *"Sergeant Toni, this is Nico. We killed the commander in chief and were returning to your position. It might take us a while though, were being chased by enemy Hornets."*

*"Alright"* Toni replied. *"We would go look for you two, but three hostile Hornets flew over us and I'm not sure if we could take them. We'll stay put here for as long as we can."*

Then a T-intersection was ahead, Linda turned left. Four enemy UNSC rebel occupied Mongooses approached from behind, firing their assault rifles. Linda steered her vehicle from right to left to dodge a majority of the bullets, Nico fired back at one of them. Both of the rebels flew off their Mongoose and fell to the ground. The other three ATV's kept moving and firing.

Then the two Spartans emerged out of the tunnel into an urbanized area, the three enemy vehicles were still behind them. Nico shot four rounds at one of the enemy Mongoose's right wheel. The wheel snapped off, causing the ATV to turn right and slam right into another one.

The two rebel vehicles ran into the side of a building. Only one enemy Mongoose remained. Then the three rebel Hornets swooped in, following Nico and Linda. The red Spartan fired the remaining rounds of his pistol at the hostile Mongoose. He missed due to Linda's dodging maneuvers from the hornet's machine guns. Nico reloaded his handgun; it was difficult though since he's using only one arm. Surpassing the difficulty, he then fired two rounds at the enemy Mongoose. The two rebels fell off their vehicle, they were eliminated.

"_There's got to be a way to take them down"._ Nico thought as he looked up at the three enemy Hornets that were not too high in the sky….He found a possible solution. The red Spartan put away his pistol and drew out his sniper rifle. Linda noticed Nico; she knew what he was thinking.

"You sure you can make those shots?"

Nico nodded to her positively and said. "Try to keep me steady as much as you can."

Linda understood. The three Hornets fired their rockets at the Spartans. Linda steered left at a crossroad; the rockets hit a small building, taking it down. The Spartans Mongoose was now steadied and the Hornets were NOT firing, this was Nico's chance. He controlled his breath, locked on his crosshairs at the frontal cockpit of one of the Hornets, and then fired.

Within a second, the bullet smashed through the cockpit glass and hit the rebel in the forehead. The Hornet airship lost control and started to go down. It sideswiped a building and crashed to the ground.

One down, two to go. Linda steered the Mongoose to dodge rockets from the two Hornets. The enemy aircraft's machine gun bullets zipped by the Spartans, some barley missed. Then the green Spartan turned left at another intersection. The road had many tall towers and the street was narrow. This forced one of the enemy hornets to turn away from the town and go another route. The other aircraft went in, still following Nico and Linda.

The red Spartan noticed the other Hornet was gone; he used that to his advantage. Linda avoided more machine gun shots from the aircraft and steadied the ATV. Like the last shot, Nico locked on to the pilot in the Hornet. He fired….the bullet hit the rebel in the throat, blood splattered on the cockpit. The Hornet went almost straight down on the street, it crashed and exploded. The explosion caused two abandon cars to flip repeatedly in the air. One of the vehicles landed a few feet away from Nico and Linda.

The two Spartans looked around to see where the other enemy Hornet went. It was hard to see the sky since there were tall towers in the way. Linda kept driving down the road, ahead was the exit out of the town. As soon as they emerged out, the remaining Hornet came from behind and fired its rockets at them. The twin rockets hit the concrete ground a few feet away from the two Spartans; the impact sent their Mongoose front flipping in the air. Linda and Nico flew out of the ATV and hit the ground. Linda took little injury; Nico had taken most of the blast which stunned him momentarily. The enemy Hornet was out of range to fire, the rebel pilot passed the wounded Spartans, getting ready to turn around for another strike.

Nico laid on the ground, his vision was blurred for a few seconds, his shield meter beeped in red alert repeatedly. Then he heard a deep ringing in his ears. With his full effort, Nico tried to get up but he couldn't move. He felt severe pain in his back and legs. Then he noticed some of his blood spilled on the concrete ground. The red Spartan felt someone dragging him. Nico looked up; it was Linda dragging him to safety. She settled him next to the side of a building. He watched Linda, worried about her, but he stayed calm. The green Spartan armed with her sniper rifle went out of the left corner of the building and settled in the crouching firing position. Then Linda fired at the remaining Hornet, creating a "Blam!!" and then a few seconds of silence.

The powerful bullet pierced through the cockpit glass of the enemy aircraft and hit the pilot in his nose. The rebel lost control, Linda got behind the building. Nico watched the rebel Hornet crash across the road with parts flying many places, the red Spartan regained focus while giving a few deep breaths. He realized he still had his sniper rifle in his hands. Linda quickly walked over to him and asked. "Nico, can you still move?"

The red Spartan got up and replied, trying not to have pain influence him. "Yeah, I'm still in one piece. Let's move."

They both found their Mongoose flipped over on the street, the back half of it was covered in charcoal black. Linda flipped the ATV back up in correct position and got aboard. Nico walked unsteadily in pain, but he kept going. The red Spartan observed the area, and then got on the back of the vehicle. He ignored the stinging pain on his back. Linda got the Mongoose moving. She then informed Nico.

"Just hold on, were not far from the Pelican."

Nico nodded, he kept focusing on their surroundings as they went to their destination.

****

Seven minutes later, without running into anymore hostiles, Linda and Nico made it to the junkyard, were the UNSC Pelican waited. Making a few turns, they finally found the ship. Sergeant Toni with a MA5B stood next to the airship, and then the back door of the aircraft opened. Four armed UNSC marines came out and kept watch for the Spartans. Nico and Linda got out the Mongoose, Linda assisted Nico by having him put his right arm over her shoulders, and she held him, keeping him on his feet. They both went inside the Pelican, along with everyone else. Moments later the UNSC ship took off quickly.

Toni looked at Nico's condition, he said to himself. "Good thing I brought medics." He informed the three medics who got up and checked on the wounded Spartan. Linda sat, checking her body for any possible injuries. She was ok, sore body wise, but ok. Then Linda looked at Nico who lied down on his front body, back up. Nico glanced at Linda as the medics removed a few fragments that were jammed deep in his shoulders and lower back. The red Spartan gave Linda a thumb up in their success. The green Spartan nodded in approval back to him.

Sergeant Toni glanced at Nico and Linda. He then informed Nico. "Don't worry Nico. We'll fix you up completely when we get back to base, and then send you and Linda back to Genesis."

Nico thought about the Blue Army commander in chief's death….Wondering why he didn't die from two S2 AM sniper bullets. Also wondering why the mission seemed somewhat easy, like if some of the enemies were holding back. The questions went thru Nico's mind. How? Why? But the mission was over, the red Spartan tried to put thoughts aside, knowing things will probably change now….Nico gave thanks for Linda's actions back at Si-Ran. She saved his life.


End file.
